Grays Harbor County building still reeling from windstorm
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MONTESANO, Wash. -- Grays Harbor County, still reeling from the December windstorm, got some good news Wednesday: The damage to the roof of the county administration building in Montesano is covered by insurance. But "covered" is not the key word for people working inside.
County officials say the strength of the wind caught them by surprise.
The problem was the roof. On December 3rd, the top of the flat roof and the insulation rose three to four feet and then slammed down amid 80 mph wind. The drainage system no longer worked. The roof membrane was cracked, possibly in dozens of places, and the thick insulation is waterlogged.
A month later, on the third floor of the government building, it is a virtual tent city as the ceiling is covered with blue tarps.
Workers there tried to make it seem cheery. They put Christmas ornaments up first. Now there are red garlands laced with hearts for Valentine's Day.
But there are IV tubes running down from the tarp shuttling red-brown water into garbage pails.
Marilyn Lewis says that creates a different feeling: "It's kind of messy. Feels like Halloween."
Some can joke. Others worry, like Gary Mawhorter, who manages the Technology Center. There's no water there, but there is blue tarp, just in case.
"All of our servers, all our pertinent information lies right in those racks." Asked if he worries, the answer was short and to the point: "Oh, yeah."
The servers hold the county's voting records, property assessments, payroll data, and much more.
Wednesday, an insurance company gave the go ahead for roof repair. But County Commissioner Mike Wilson says it's not that easy: "We did have a huge rainstorm; it was like a hurricane. You go out and try to get roofing people to come work on your buildings and you've got to get in line."
There's another problem: Roofers say they need ten days of dry weather to do the job. County commissioners say because predicting weather without a Doppler Radar along the coast is difficult at best, the work may have to wait until summer.
"We are the only piece of coastline in the Continental United States without Doppler Radar," Al Carter, a county commissioner, told KOMO 4 News.
The money from the insurance company will pay for emergency repairs.
The county says the real answer is a remodel, including a pitched roof, a new HVAC system and replacing single-pane windows with double or triple panes.
But that would cost millions, and the county says it doesn't have the money for that.
County officials say the strength of the wind caught them by surprise.
The problem was the roof. On December 3rd, the top of the flat roof and the insulation rose three to four feet and then slammed down amid 80 mph wind. The drainage system no longer worked. The roof membrane was cracked, possibly in dozens of places, and the thick insulation is waterlogged.
A month later, on the third floor of the government building, it is a virtual tent city as the ceiling is covered with blue tarps.
Workers there tried to make it seem cheery. They put Christmas ornaments up first. Now there are red garlands laced with hearts for Valentine's Day.
But there are IV tubes running down from the tarp shuttling red-brown water into garbage pails.
Marilyn Lewis says that creates a different feeling: "It's kind of messy. Feels like Halloween."
Some can joke. Others worry, like Gary Mawhorter, who manages the Technology Center. There's no water there, but there is blue tarp, just in case.
"All of our servers, all our pertinent information lies right in those racks." Asked if he worries, the answer was short and to the point: "Oh, yeah."
The servers hold the county's voting records, property assessments, payroll data, and much more.
Wednesday, an insurance company gave the go ahead for roof repair. But County Commissioner Mike Wilson says it's not that easy: "We did have a huge rainstorm; it was like a hurricane. You go out and try to get roofing people to come work on your buildings and you've got to get in line."
There's another problem: Roofers say they need ten days of dry weather to do the job. County commissioners say because predicting weather without a Doppler Radar along the coast is difficult at best, the work may have to wait until summer.
"We are the only piece of coastline in the Continental United States without Doppler Radar," Al Carter, a county commissioner, told KOMO 4 News.
The money from the insurance company will pay for emergency repairs.
The county says the real answer is a remodel, including a pitched roof, a new HVAC system and replacing single-pane windows with double or triple panes.
But that would cost millions, and the county says it doesn't have the money for that.
