Damage estimates are still coming in, but the earthquake on Aug. 23 appears to have caused at least $85 million in damage to Virginia so far, according to a report in the Free Lance-Star.
Louisa County and the towns of Mineral and Louisa – all in the vicinity of the epicenter of the magnitude 5.8 quake – have suffered the worst economic hit by far. Louisa County is reporting at least $80.6 million in damage.
Almost $64 million of the Louisa total pertains to damage to schools. Elsewhere in the county, private homes sustained an estimated $14.7 million in damages; commercial buildings, $1 million; government buildings, $690,000; religious structures, $475,000.
Louisa has received more than 1,120 damage reports, of which about 680 have been assessed by damage teams.
Damage in Culpeper County is estimated at almost $5 million. Fredericksburg estimated $711,000 in damage, and Stafford County reported about $100,000 in damage, the Associated Press reported.
Many of the losses were not covered by insurance, making the impact on individual businesses much worse.
Gov. Bob McDonnell last week requested federal disaster designation for Louisa from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individual Assistance Program. The designation would make funding available for homeowners and renters in the form of grants and low-interest loans, as well as disaster housing assistance.
The governor also requested disaster unemployment assistance, legal services and crisis counseling for the county. Other localities could be added as new or further damage is identified, the governor’s office said.
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