How hard was Tropical Storm Elsa on Port Royal? Damage estimates $1M and rising
More than 40 buildings in Port Royal had at least some damage from a tornado that roared through town last week, building inspector Michael Wesson said Tuesday morning, while tree removal work continued.
The town did the initial damage assessment to make sure buildings were safe to occupy and to fulfill Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements.
The tally so far: 44 buildings with at least some damage.
Almost a week following the Tropical Storm Elsa-spawned, high-wind event, five of of those structures remain unsafe to occupy until they undergo repairs, Wesson said.
The initial damage estimate of $750,000 to $1 million is sure to rise, Wesson said.
A tree cut one trailer home in half, and now it needs to be demolished. At another location, a carport collapsed onto vehicles underneath it.
Trees uprooted or sheared off by 97-mph winds late Wednesday did the damage, with trees or limbs falling on roofs, he said.
Damage at the Port Royal Veterinary Hospital is the worst in town, he said.
Dr. Marikay Campbell, one of the owners of the hospital, said Tuesday that damage to the vet hospital alone might reach $1 million.
The mainstay main street business is facing an uncertain future after the tornado snapped trees that punctured its roof, causing severe structural, roof and water damage.
The hospital’s insurance policy requires payment of a $90,000 to $100,000 deductible before assistance kicks in.
The community has launched a gofundme effort to raise $100,000 to save the vet hospital.
Tropical Storm Elsa turmoil has spawned other gofundme efforts to assist area residents who suffered damage to their homes, including Barbara Jenkins, a long-time cafeteria worker at Michael C. Riley Elementary in Bluffton, who had a massive tree fall on her house in Bluffton.
In Port Royal, the vet hospital, the only one in the community, was expecting engineers to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday.
Campbell is not sure how long the facility will be closed.
Her goal is to reopen, but when and how is uncertain until an engineer assesses the damage.
A live oak from the property fell on the building, but two sheared-off treetops from a neighboring yard did the most damage, penetrating the first-floor surgery and second-floor offices, Campbell said.
A 4,000-square-foot surgery addition to the one-story block building that opened two years ago was heavily damaged. “It’s pretty disappointing,” Campbell said.
No staff was in the building when the storm hit, but two dogs and a cat that were recovering from surgery were there.
“They were pretty scared,” Campbell said. In between bands of heavy rain, the animals were evacuated to the home of a vet technician who works at the hospital.
