Cleanup after the tornado and storm that swept through campus last Thursday is estimated to cost the university tens of thousands of dollars, while damage to the city of Ames was negligible.

“It’s funny how that hit in just a real isolated spot, but it did,” said Steve Salvo, operations administrator for Ames public works.

Damage to the university was estimated at $150,000, said David Miller, director of facilities and utilities for facilities planning and management.

The storm hit many areas of campus, and damage includes broken windows and uprooted trees and fences. This does not include damage to personal property, such as vehicles, which owners must pay for themselves. Miller said his estimate also does not include damage at athletic facilities, such as Jack Trice Stadium and the Iowa State Center, which means the total damage could be even higher.

It is expected that of this money, around $100,000 will be invested in the cleanup of trees and branches, Miller said. In many areas around campus, trees – many damaged from previous storms – had been uprooted and branches had fallen.

Miller said the remainder of the money should fund the repair of damage to property, such as university-owned vehicles, roofs, broken windows, including one particularly large window in Stephen’s Auditorium, and landscaping fences.

“Right now, we hope to have cleanup done in about a week,” Miller said.

He said this time frame depends on weather conditions.

Salvo said damage to the City of Ames was confined to a few downed tree limbs, which were cleaned up by city employees during regular hours without overtime pay, and a few backed-up storm drains.

“The backup of the storm water just has to have some time to recede,” he said.

Even after cleanup is finished, however, there will still be a lot of repairs to be done, Miller said. Workers will check trees around campus to make sure they are in good condition; some have been affected by previous storms and might need to be removed.

Most buildings on campus sustained little or no damage, Miller said.

The bulk of the cost is in the cleanup process. Most of the damage on campus was on the eastern side of campus.

Kevin Geiken, a 2005 ISU graduate who lives in Ames, was on a CyRide bus near Kildee Hall on Thursday when he noticed what was going on.

“Wind was blowing and the driver had to stop the bus because it was shaking,” Geiken said.

Luckily, almost none of the buses sustained any damage.

Facilities planning and management will be in charge of the cleanup process.