Oklahoma marinas suffer $40 million in snow damage

February 2011 News

Heavy snowfall caused an estimated $40 million in damage to marinas and boats at Oklahoma's Grand Lake, according to reports.

As much as 4 feet of snow fell in the area during the first two weeks of the month, the Tulsa World newspaper reported.

Tom Benton, a marine surveyor who owns Marine Damage Consultants, estimated that the heavy snowfall damaged at least 16 marinas and 600 boats, for a total loss of roughly $40 million.

"I have one boat that I'm working with that's $1.1 million, and it sank," he told the newspaper. "The repair work's probably going to go on for a year. There are just so many boats and there are not enough places for them to get immediately fixed. We're probably not done yet. Some of the boats that had docks come down on them and are still afloat may not be in the next few days."

One of the unlucky areas is Tera Miranda Resort and Marina on Monkey Island, where Tom Berry is the general manager.

"It was too dangerous to get guys on the roof during the heavy snow," he told the newspaper. "We did get them up between the storms. It's kind of like a tornado coming through. You can't do anything about it. You know it's coming. You just batten down the hatches.

"Someday, it will get back to normal," he added. "The lake will be great again. We're just trying to fix boats and figure out who's got what. Some people don't even know their boat's damaged yet."

Click here for the full report.

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