Road to recovery annual report
October 23, 2016
By Temple Ligon
Last Tuesday, October 18, city council heard its first annual report in the recovery from the October 4, 2015 flood. According to Mayor Benjamin, nearly 12 trillion gallons of rain took its toll. Rainfall that exceeded once-in-a-thousand-year levels was measured.
In response on October 4, CRC 911 processed 6,415 phone calls in one day. More than 100 streets within the city were closed, blocked or just plain impassable.
The annual report was submitted by Keely C. Thibodeaux, AIA, PMP, of Landmark Consulting, and it included more than 162 identified projects and their associated schedules and estimated costs.
To quote the report:
“The largest project in the City, with some of the most captured images of the storm, is the Columbia Canal with its breached levy and crippled Head Gates. Engineering investigations have begun to ascertain the full extent of the damage and determine the design criteria for the fix. The Canal is a major asset for the City of Columbia, providing scenic and recreational opportunities for citizens and visitors, but it serves a serious purpose as well, providing source water for the City’s potable and water (sic) and drinking water needs. Estimates for the repair and restoration of the Canal range from $35 million to over $100 million depending on the extent of the damage and the final remedial option…
“It is estimated that a total amount of $97 million is needed to complete all work required for recovery from the Federal Government. The majority of projects for all categories, except Utilities and Water Control Facilities, have been received and those projects have been completed…
“To address the long term repairs and needs, the City has developed project requests for FEMA assistance, with estimates totaling more than $8 million. FEMA recently approved more than $3 million in projects, and the City has contracts underway to address the repairs…
“The work on roads and bridges account for $2.9M of recovery work including repairs from street, curb and gutter washouts, repairs to damaged signal control equipment, cave-ins on storm drain pipes and damaged emergency call boxes. 43% of this recovery work is complete…
“Under FEMA’s Public Assistance program, the City has developed 1162 work projects to address storm damages at hundreds of sites throughout the city. To date, FEMA has obligated more than $10 million to the City of Columbia to assist in repairs to facilities, equipment, utilities, and miscellaneous losses from the storm. Another estimated $43 million in projects has been identified and is currently in the process of being documented and submitted for FEMA consideration, the largest project being associated with repairs to the City’s eCanal (sic) and Head Gates.”
