Several cars were damaged when a flooded parking lot froze in December.
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – University students whose cars were flooded in a campus parking lot last month will be reimbursed for their uninsured losses.

The University of Maine at Farmington will dish out an estimated $70,000 from an emergency account containing payments by students to live in the dorms, Roger Spear, vice president of administration, explained.

Thirty-nine vehicles were partially submerged when ice jammed the Sandy River, which overflowed into the Prescott Field student parking lot, parts of Front Street and the Intervale.

The incident came on the last day of regular classes and just before final exams were set to commence, and before many students left for a month-long winter break.

Campus officials, students and parents scratched their heads, trying to figure out who would foot the bill and how much should be covered.

“Everybody’s situation was totally different,” Spear said. Some cars were a total loss, others were driven out of the lot without a sputter. Some had valuable contents, like holiday gifts. Others were empty.

The school has decided to reimburse the uninsured loss on those vehicles and in some cases, vehicle contents.

“We need to take care of our students, that’s what UMF is all about,” Spear said Thursday. “This took us all by surprise and once we saw the horrible impact this had on students going into finals, we knew we needed to help.”

His comments came less than a week after Gov. John Baldacci wrote a letter to President George W. Bush and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, detailing the damage done by freak weather in December.

In his letter, Baldacci cited the incident at UMF as the first flooding emergency in the state.

“Since the Farmington campus serves many students who commute and hold down other jobs while going to school, the university realized that many would have to drop out of school if they could not replace their vehicles,” the governor’s letter stated.

The letter also pointed out that UMF was “generously” reimbursing the uninsured loss on those vehicles in the amount of $150,000.

Spear said while that figure may have been a “reasonable estimate at the time,” $70,000 is a more recent estimate and most likely what the college will give out. Already, some payments have been made, he said, and an adjuster for the UMaine System is helping determine the loss.

Students are very grateful for the aid, Spear said.

The lot where the flooding occurred is closed for the remainder of the academic year. Campus officials will assess its use later.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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