Superstorm Cost the City ‘Tens of Thousands of Dollars’

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, much of the wreckage has been cleaned up in Lakewood.

However, city officials haven’t really begun to officially tally the damage to the city’s coffers.

Mayor Michael Summers estimates that the storm will cost the city somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000.

He said most of the costs were in the form of additional manpower.

There was overtime from the police and public works departments; extra crews staffed in the fire department; and “wear and tear” on the city's equipment.

Police had to guard intersections where downed power trees and power lines posed a threat — like the intersection of Lake Road and Cove Avenue. Officers had to staff that post 24 hours a day while crews repaired the lines.

“And we still had to provide our normal patrol,” said Summers.

Summers said the city has $4.6 million in an emergency fund.

* “We have financial reserves to last us for 60 days to deal with these kinds of things,” he said. “This is what we use those funds for.” 

Summers said the city will look to recoup some of the losses with both the state and federal governments.

But, he said he’s not holding his breath.

“While he was in town (last week), Gov. Kasich made no offer to help us,” Summers said.

“We’ll review our procedures our methods our opportunities,” he added. “I don’t know yet what we would have done differently. This was our citizens’ hour of greatest need and our city workers understand that and responded accordingly.”

* From Mayor Michael Summers: I would like to correct a small but important fact of this article. Our city has 50 days of average daily expenditures in reserve. Our goal is 60 days.