ATLANTA - Hurricane Opal wreaked an estimated $90.6 million in uninsured damage on public property in Florida, according to a report published Wednesday by the state Department of Community Affairs.
The report detailed damage to 19 counties on Florida's Panhandle and inland, which bore the brunt of Opal's winds and rain when the hurricane tore ashore Oct. 4.
The state study reports damage to roads and bridges, public buildings and equipment, utilities, and parks, according to Molly Payne, a Community Affairs spokeswoman. It also covers the costs of debris removal and protective measures taken before the storm such as placing of sandbags and barriers, and water control at dams and levees.
Teams from Community Affairs, which oversees emergency management in Florida, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency made damage assessments after visiting the Panhandle immediately following the storm. After speaking with those communities, FEMA put a dollar figure on damages, which will serve as the starting point for negotiations over federal aid.
The figures will probably be revised considerably, county officials have said.
Okaloosa County officials, which according to the Florida report was hardest hit with $26.3 million in damages, are still trying to gauge the extent of the damage.
"At this point in time I can't give a damage estimate," said Sandy Norris, an accountant in the county Finance Department who is handling damage assessment.
The state report estimates Bay County's damage at $6.6 million, including $2 million for debris removal. David Miller, Bay director of public safety, said debris removal will cost closer to $14 million.
"They're always off on debris removal," he said of FEMA. "That's normal. You can't see it all at first." The county is keeping very close track of its actual costs, he said, and expects to be largely reimbursed by state and federal funds.
On the other hand, officials in Escambia County said the state's report has overestimated costs.
The county sustained $17.5 million in damages to public property, including $12.1 million to roads and bridges, according to the state. But Jean Kassab, chief of the Escambia Office of Management and Budget, said that number is "probably several million (dollars) too high, at least."
The reason, she said, is that the road leading to Santa Rosa Island and its beaches was covered in sand by the storm, so damage was hard to assess in the hurricane's early aftermath.
FEMA will reimburse 75% of the costs to municipalities for repairing and restoring uninsured public structures damaged by Opal, according to agency spokesman Carl Suchocki. The money will be disbursed once FEMA and local officials agree on repair and restoration costs, he said, and will be paid out over the duration of the construction projects.
The state government will decide later whether to kick in most or all of the remaining costs to repair its counties.
In a separate assessment, the state Insurance Department has estimated $1.8 billion in insured losses from the storm, a number that has been revised downward from a high of $2.8 billion shortly after Opal hit, according to spokesman Bill McLoughlin. That estimate is generated by a computer model and may be revised further as claims are filed, he said.
