Instructions:The story below deals with the aftermath of a storm that ravaged the campus of Addison State College in Harris County. The storm killed 15 people in Harris County and caused thousands of dollars of damage to the college campus. No students on campus were injured in the storm. The story comes six months after the storm as the college continues to repair the damage incurred. Edit the story for Associated Press style, grammar and clarity. If the editor requires new or additional information, make the proper notations. What information could help with the overall validity of the story? Is the purpose of the article clear in its current form? What questions need to be addressed? Rewrite passages accordingly.
Most residents of Harris County and students, faculty and staff of Addison State College remember where they were on April 27, 2011, the morning of when the storms hit. 15 people were found dead in Harris County. The proper term for the storm was a “micro burst” but many call it a tornado. The amount of damage that occurred on campus and around Harris County looked like it would take weeks to clean up and a large sum of money.
A microburst differs from a tornado by it has straight-line winds instead of twisting winds. Microburst can last for a couple of seconds but up to minutes. They contain strong winds that are powerful enough to knock over fully-grown trees.
At Addison State Collegethe students and faculty were concerned if the damage would be clear for graduation which was 2 weeks after the storm hit. Remarkablygrounds crew and many volunteers were able to clean up roughly 100 trees that had fallen. Dave Richardson, Superintendent of grounds crew at Addison State College, has lived in Harris County his entire life and has experienced many storms says that it was the “biggest one he has seen.” He says the “damages on campus have been completely recovered”.
An immediate toll that the students, faculty and staff took was being without power for over 24 hourswhich made it almost impossible for professors to teach their classes. The main toll that the storms took on the Addison State community was the delaying of the construction of the dorms on campus. With the incoming freshman class that continues to grow each yearstudents are concerned about when new housing will be built. They are hopeful that no other storms will delay the construction of new dorms. Richardson was not concerned of the construction but more clear and safe by graduation. He was very proud of his workers, but especially thankful to the many volunteers from the Addison State community. He does not want the main campus grounds crew to take credit for the quick pace clean up, but it was also the many helping hands from volunteers, mountain, and the grounds crew.
Harris County’s Emergency Management Director, Steve McKee, calculated the amount of damages from the storms in April and the total damage estimate is was $12,802,257. Most of the money damages came from street flooding and the second highest amount came from businesses. The amount of damage in numbers are not permitted to be released from Addison State College because it is a private institution but Director of Forestry Operations in the Land Resources Department, Bruce Quill, said that the numbers continued to increase into the summer months of 2011 but they are on the right track to assisting the damages.
Storm season is coming up and many are wondering if there will be another one like last year. That question can’t be answered but Richardson said that the grounds crew has purchased new equipment including more chainsaws. New trees have also been planted to replace the ones that had fallen, including some that were about 100 years old. The construction dates for the new dorms still have not been released but the Addison State Community is hopeful it begins soon.