Work is underway to assess the damage to the roof of the library at MSU-Northern in Havre after Wednesday’s windstorm.
University Relations director Jim Potter said Thursday metal fasteners on the roof are believed to have failed. Thankfully, no one was inside when the damage happened. Staff on campus noticed the roof was likely about to come off so they evacuated the building.
Potter says the main entryway roof was damaged in three areas, mainly over the mechanical equipment loft. They are assessing the extent and cost of the damage.
There does appear to be some damage to the chiller system but the heating system located in the attic loft appears to be undamaged. This is the original roof. The building was dedicated in 1982.
The roof appears to be structurally sound and was assessed by an architect from the AE Division on Thursday morning. They are installing a temporary covering to make that portion of the roof waterproof, safe and operational again as quickly as possible.
"School starts next Tuesday for us, so that gives us a few days to try to try to patch it, fix it,” Potter said. "Because it's just this entryway area, we think that we should be able to do a very safe, temporary patch.”
When a patch could be made, how much it will cost, and when the roof could be fully repaired had not been determined Thursday.
The university was hoping to use a drone to asses the damage, but as of early Thursday afternoon the wind was still too strong to fly the drone.
The winds on Wednesday caused damage across the region:
