Storm damagePhoto by Dan Addison
This winter’s record snowfall will leave a wave of devastation in its wake at the University of Virginia, long after the snow has melted.
“The damage was widespread and extensive,” said Rich Hopkins, University landscape supervisor in U.Va.‘s Facilities Management division.
Hopkins said evergreens – including pines, firs, hollies, magnolias and boxwoods – were hit hard because their foliage held the snow, and when the weight became too much the branches cracked or broke.
“Every evergreen on Grounds has limbs broken off or in some cases, half the tree has fallen off,” he said. “There is an arbor vitae hedge between Monroe Hall and Monroe Hill House that we have lost about half of, and there is a cedar at Carruthers Hall that is so badly damaged it will probably have to come down.”
The storm response is also causing damage inside buildings as people track in sand and salt.
“It tears up the floors like sandpaper,” said Robert Carman, building services superintendent. “It grinds anything with a finish.”
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