The remains of the Bishopville Park gazebo that was razed to the ground in late May will remain standing until county officials and the county’s insurance company determine the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the structure.
The photo shows the remains of the gazebo in Bishopville Park, which was razed to the ground in a “microburst” in late May, on August 5.
Mallory Panuska Ames/Bayside Gazette
By Stewart Dobson, Editor
The remains of the gazebo in Bishopville Park, which was leveled by a “microburst” in late May, will remain where they are until county officials and the county’s insurance company determine the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the structure.
“Human resources handled the insurance claim through LGIT (Local Government Insurance Trust), which hired a building consultant to evaluate the property,” said Kim Moses, county spokeswoman, last week.
“HR is still waiting for a response. Recreation and Parks has received a bid for the cleanup and reconstruction under a cooperative agreement. Once they receive a response from LGIT, they will begin the cleanup and reconstruction using the existing floor slab,” she said.
The pavilion was destroyed in a microburst on May 24. The National Weather Service describes a microburst as a narrow but violent downdraft (similar to a reverse tornado) that can occur during thunderstorms.
The weather service explains that microbursts form when the updrafts of warm air in the giant cumulonimbus thunderclouds are so strong (80 km/h and more) that they stir up water droplets and hail in the upper parts of the thunderstorm cell.
Eventually, these droplets cool, weakening the updraft until it can no longer hold all the water and this column of cool air and moisture crashes to the ground with a powerful but tightly focused hiss.
The wind speeds of these downdrafts have been measured at 100 mph (160 km/h) and more, according to the weather service. However, because they are so limited and appear and disappear so quickly – generally within 5 minutes or less – they are not always shown on weather radar. For this reason, they can also go undetected by weather instruments at close range.
The May 24 storm also produced a microburst in Midtown Ocean City, where winds destroyed part of the roof of an apartment building but left adjacent properties unharmed.
Moses said Jacob Stephens, director of the county’s parks department, expects a response from LGIT by the end of this week.
