Storm damage leaves lasting impact; Buildings and Grounds works to clean up tree damage

The south side of Link Library on Mar. 19 (left) and Mar. 28 (right)

Photo credits: Nora Betts

By Natalie Guske

Although the snow has melted and the weather has warmed to spring-like temperatures, the winter storm that hit Seward on Wednesday, Mar. 19, left significant amounts of tree damage and debris around Concordia’s campus.

Over the past week and a half, Buildings and Grounds employees have been working to clear the campus of downed branches and other debris left scattered by the storm.

The south side of Jesse Hall on Mar. 19 (left) and Mar. 28 (right)

“I would say percentage-wise, at least 50 percent of trees on campus had some sort of damage,” Buildings and Grounds general manager Patrick Bennett said. “[This has ranged from] something as minor as a little branch falling to significant damage where we’re having to take down the tree itself.”

Buildings and Grounds employees started working on damage cleanup the day of the storm as they cleared the roads and sidewalks used by students and staff.

“We began [cleanup] during the storm as we were having to move limbs that had fallen across our parking lots and sidewalks,” Bennett said. “During this, besides dealing with the snow removal, we had to pull branches aside so that students could get to class.”

Minimal harm was done to the buildings, although many trees sustained damage.

The view outside of Jesse Hall, looking east towards Founders Hall, on Mar. 19 (left) and Mar. 28 (right). A fallen cedar branch crushed a tree beside Jesse Hall and blocked the sidewalk.

“There was a cedar tree that had a very large limb come down and damage a little bit of the capstone on one of the rooftops [as well as] some scratches along the brick work, but nothing that we’ve seen structurally,” Bennett said. “There was a little bit of roof damage on one of the dorms, but nothing was too significant. Given the size [of the storm] and the conditions we were dealt, it could have been much, much worse.”

Many of the damaged branches have already been cut down and removed since the storm a little over a week ago.

“We began our more full-scale cleanup Monday, [which] has been ongoing all week with our grounds and maintenance teams going around picking up branches and cleaning up all the wood debris,” Bennett said. “At about midday [Thursday, Mar. 27], we were about 75 percent complete and so [next week] we should be in a much better position.”

The rapid work done by the Buildings and Grounds crews has not gone unnoticed by students, as freshman Piper Brink noted that “paths seem [much] clearer [now] than they did the day [the storm] happened.”

“I would say there were quite a lot of sticks and branches [after the storm] and I think I even saw full parts of trees that fell,” Brink said. “I feel like [Building and Grounds] has done a pretty good job, given that they have to work around the schedules of staff and students to clean up campus.”

The north side of Jesse Hall on Mar. 19 (left) and Mar. 28 (right). A fallen cedar branch scratched the brick wall and crushed another tree, which Buildings and Grounds employees cut down.

With the end finally in sight, a professional contractor will be on campus next week to tidy up the trees in time for spring.

“We do have a contractor coming in to do a couple things,” Bennett said. “One, there’s branches that are too high for us to reach with our capabilities and equipment, so he’s going to come in with a boom truck and get some of that debris and prune up and fine-tune pieces that we’re not able to get. He’ll actually be doing a walk around in more detail this weekend, so we hope to get him started as soon as possible.”

The view looking east from Weller Hall towards Brommer Hall on Mar. 19 (left) and Mar. 28 (right)