Strong storm topples trees

As many as 80 trees around campus may have been lost during the powerful storm that tore through Bloomington on Monday, May 23.

It could be two weeks before campus is completely cleaned up, said Mike Girvin, manager of Campus Division at the Department of Physical Plant.

“Many trees were uprooted or snapped about a foot from the ground,” Girvin said. “I don’t think we had a tornado, but some trees were even twisted.”

Girvin said the department does not have an official figure regarding the cost of the damage, but he estimated that it could total more than $10,000.

While some smaller repairs like the damaged headstones in Dunn Cemetery may be covered by insurance, destruction like the massive, uprooted tree that knocked the stones over won’t be solved so easily.

“We hope to have the tree dealt with in a couple of days, but it’s a difficult spot,” Girvin said.

The tree has to be removed by cutting it into smaller chunks and moving each chunk by hand. Tree removal can be a long, tedious process, Girvin said.

On Monday, May 23, it took 10 workers more than three hours to remove just one tree that had fallen on 10th Street.

However, the department is not responsible for all the streets featuring campus buildings.

While Campus Division workers removed the tree from a section of Seventh Street in front of Ernie Pyle Hall, Girvin said the city was responsible for the fallen tree just a few intersections down the road, near Chabad House.

“Campus is a funny animal,” he said. “But the University and the city help each other out.”

So far, Girvin said he couldn’t be happier with the progress being made. The streets under his authority have all been cleared, he said, as have nearly all of the sidewalks.

One of the worst hit areas was Dunn Woods, which Girvin said he expected his workers to begin tackling over the next couple of days. In addition to removing the fallen trees there, Campus Division must also spend four or five days simply hauling debris.

“We’re going to have truckload after truckload after truckload of brush and chips,” Girvin said. “The pain of dealing with lots of sticks is that the only way to pick them up is to pick them up.”

- Jake New