UF students assess storm’s damage to historic properties
Maanvi Chawla is from the mountains of northern India — far from any threat of hurricanes. When she volunteered to assess Hurricane Matthew’s damage in St. Augustine, the University of Florida student was given a crash course in coastal disasters that you can’t get from books.
“This has been life changing,” she said, standing outside a flood-damaged historic home on a street lined with storm debris.
Chawla and eight other graduate students from UF’s historic preservation program volunteered Oct. 17-19 to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency assess flood damage from the storm that hammered America’s oldest city in early October. By going door-to-door and recording flood damage, the team gathered critical information included in reports leading to President Barack Obama’s approval of the individual assistance portion of a federal disaster declaration.
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November 1, 2016
Story By: Stephenie Livingston
Photographer: Lyon Duong
To read the full story, visit http://news.ufl.edu/
A Related story was also published by ABC News on Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Hurricane: Many Historic Buildings in St. Augustine Damaged