Posted on: Saturday, December 11, 2004

Flood damage at UH could hit $100 million

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer

Damage to the University of Hawai'iiManoa from the Oct. 30 flood could go as high as $100 million, UH officials said yesterday, putting their firmest number yet on the cost to repair the campus.

Earlier this week officials told The Advertiser that the damage could be as much as $75 million, making the natural disaster one of the four most costly in Hawai'i history.

"Costs are still coming in from the field and we're still compiling them, but the 'guess-timate' of between $80 (million) and $100 million includes the cost of business and research interruption," UH vice president for external affairs and university relations Carolyn Tanaka said yesterday.

Dollar figures for loss of research and what it would cost to recover the work done over years or decades remain elusive, said UH officials.

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.