Provo Recovering From Storm Damage

Most of the major damage to public facilities caused by a 12-minute storm in Provo, Utah, that caused $13 million in damages has been resolved.

Provo city, which lost $1.2 million in trees and took a $1.3 million hit to the power grid, has cleaned up and cleared out about as much as can be done. The restoration process may take a little longer.

“For the most part we are finished,” Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Parker said.

The trees were not covered by insurance, and most likely won’t be immediately replaced at Bicentennial Park or the city’s golf course, which took the biggest hits. Most of that debris has been removed.

Because the city owns the electric utility, it is self-insured on the power grid, so the cost of replacing 45 poles and restoring power to thousands of people almost overnight will be funded by the city. The insurance policy should cover the minor damage to the public works building and the damage at the airport, where the storm hit the hardest. Much of the damage was to private planes and hangars, but the administration’s building did lose its roof in the 100 mph winds.

“We don’t have a final number yet” on costs, Parker said. Early damage estimates from the insurance adjuster came in at $375,000, with a $100,000 deductible from the city.

Airport Manager Steve Gleason has spent the past month doing business out of a truck with a cell phone, but should get a temporary office building. Mayor Lewis Billings met with the Municipal Council and floated the idea of not repairing the current building, but instead building a new, bigger facility that could better house the fire station as well. There is no timeline on when that could be done, and funding for the project could come from the city, the insurance company or the Federal Aviation Administration, among others.

In the neighborhoods of Provo, many trees still have scars from where branches were ripped off. Some yards have large holes in the ground where entire trees were overturned and subsequently removed. One house has noticeable marks from where a carport used to be, while whole chunks of shingles are missing from others.