Fans are set up to aid staff in drying out the drywall and hopefully salvaging it.
The freezing temperatures over the holiday weekend did untold damage to many homes and businesses in the area.
The damage to the building at Comprehend Inc. may mean months of repairs.
Comprehend Inc. is a non-profit mental health and wellness organization situated on Forest Avenue in Maysville which has served the community for decades.
Midday on Christmas, Melissa Greenwell, CEO of Comprehend for just two months, said a call came in from the water company to let them know something was wrong in the building.
Greenwell said when she came in at 3:15 p.m. to see what was going on and found the offices and hallways of the older section of the building were being flooded with water from the sprinkler system which had frozen and then burst through the ceiling.
“The main line that busted was on the upper floor which leaked from there to the lower floor,” Greenwell said.
The water from the upper level leaked through the ceiling of the lower level as well as through the light fixtures. The ceiling was still bowing down under weight from the water and water could still be seen in the light fixtures two days later.
The water damage to the floors of the second level left them soft and spongy and Greenwell said they aren’t salvageable and will all have to be replaced.
“Where we do our children’s group, the area was under two inches of water and is still wet; the rug is soaked through so the insurance adjuster said everything will go and have to be replaced,” she said.
Some of the toys may be saved but all of the shelves and anything made of wood or fabric will have to be thrown away due to the possibility of mold or warping, Greenwell explained.
The bulk of the damage in the building is in the upstairs area where the sprinkler system first failed and sent water through the ceiling into the first office on that floor, showering the computer and electronics and everything else in the office. The damage goes from the first office to the end of the hallway and then wraps around the next hallway.
The room where medical records are kept had two inches of water on the floor, although Greenwell said thankfully none came from the ceiling; the water and carpet have been removed from the room.
Currently, staff is trying to save the drywall on both floors by employing several industrial fans throughout the older section of the building.
“We also took the baseboards off to help dry out the drywall. They put a moisture meter on the wall and it’s soaked almost halfway up the wall,” she said.
Depending on the damage in the wall after it is dried out, Greenwell said they may have to cut out the lower sections of the wall and replace them along with the floors.
“There’s a lot of damage you can’t see with the naked eye when it comes to water damage, like the insulation in the walls. The floor was saturated with water and (being wood) it absorbed a lot of it and once it dries out it will probably start buckling,” she said.
Greenwell explained that beyond structural damage there were also countless electronics, more than five computers as well as furniture and personal items the staff kept in their offices that were damaged or lost.
There’s also the concern of working space. Greenwell said services will not be interrupted but many offices in the facility aren’t usable and some staff will have to share office space.
At this time, Greenwell doesn’t know the full extent of the damage or cost of the repairs but said while insurance will cover most of the cost, the agency will still have to meet the deductible which can be as much as $25,000.
She said this could prohibit growth in the company for a little while but there are enough funds in the organization to keep the current status quo.
While the facility is mainly funded by grants and other state funding, it also accepts private donations and Greenwell said plans for more community support are now being pushed to the front.
Many non-profit organizations in the Buffalo Trace area do fundraising events and Greenwell said the new year will see more fundraising efforts for the organization to help mitigate some of the costs of the current damage as well as to support the other programs.
Greenwell said once the insurance adjuster is finished appraising the damage and a contractor can be brought in (though she worries about getting a contractor in soon due to the areas homes and businesses suffering the same problems) she expects the repairs would take four to six weeks to be completed.
