TEXAS IN THIS WAVE OF STORMS
Storms Cause Power Outages, Damage School
(Staff Photo By Erin King)
HALLWAY HAVOC: Debris is tossed throughout the hallway of Velma Penny Elementary School in Lindale after storms passed through the area on Tuesday. The school district is closed until futher notice.
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
LINDALE - Lindale school officials and volunteers were busy cleaning up a mess of water and soggy debris that littered the hallways and classrooms inside Velma Penny Elementary School Tuesday night after hail from severe storms damaged the roof.
Staff Writer
LINDALE - Lindale school officials and volunteers were busy cleaning up a mess of water and soggy debris that littered the hallways and classrooms inside Velma Penny Elementary School Tuesday night after hail from severe storms damaged the roof.
Lindale ISD Superintendent Stan Surratt said school was cancelled for the entire district on Wednesday because of damage to Velma Penny Elementary, as well as E.J. Moss Intermediate School in Lindale. Velma Penny suffered the most severe damage, he said.
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"The hail was so large, everywhere the hail hit the vinyl roof, it broke it," Assistant Superintendent of Operations Jim Bernard said as he walked through the halls Tuesday night. "So we have holes on the entire school about a foot a part."
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Soggy ceiling tiles littered the hallways and classrooms, where carpets were soaked with water. Plastic tarps covered important items, such as computers and papers, as water continued to drip from the ceiling and some remaining ceiling tiles appeared to buckle.
Some materials inside the school, such as computers, books and papers had been ruined, officials said.
"The sad thing is it's every room," Bernard said as he looked around one room with water-logged carpets and a mess of fallen ceiling tiles.
Officials said it would take more time before a cost estimate on the damage could be determined.
Submitted photo
Lori Billings of Bullard submitted this photo, taken after the hail storm in Bullard, on Tuesday 2-5-08, about 30 minutes after it. "It is of the hail I picked up from my yard, and comparing with a tennis ball, and a golf ball also," she wrote in an e-mail.
It was unclear Tuesday night whether school would resume on Thursday. Surratt said the decision would be made by about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
"It's a major problem," Surratt said. "It's just not going to be safe for kids to attend tomorrow. In the next day or so, we'll try to make it safe."
Reports of fallen power lines and trees crossing roads were made throughout Smith County as the storm moved through the area late Tuesday afternoon.
Dr. Bob Peters, a local weather observer, said the areas hardest hit included Lindale and Bullard. Hail the size of golf balls was reported.
Charles Hill, region customer operations manager for Oncor, said less than 1,000 customers lost power after the storm in the Smith County-Cherokee County area.
Less than 600 residents remained without power as of about 8:30 p.m., he said.
"We'll work most of the night to get most of this back on," Hill said. "Most people should have lights back on by early tomorrow."
'SHOCK'
Come Wednesday morning, the clean up will continue at Velma Penny Elementary.
Come Wednesday morning, the clean up will continue at Velma Penny Elementary.
Inside the school Tuesday night, swarms of volunteers, including high school students, were busy doing what they could to help.
Workers pulled water-logged insulation from the ceilings and hauled out big bins of debris.
Bernard said the concern was if it rained again, the water would come right through and cause further flooding.
Roof specialists were coming from Texarkana to help on Tuesday night, he said.
Monica Moore, the principal of Velma Penny Elementary, said her reaction to the damage was, "Thank God the kids weren't here," she said.
"We were putting the last kids in the car in the hail ... We didn't know (about the damage) because we were standing outside," Ms. Moore said.
When they went back inside, though, "it was raining in the building - ceiling tiles falling down on your head."
The principal and teachers said they were in shock and disbelief.
When asked what was damaged in their rooms, several school personnel said, "everything," including things that can't be replaced, such as special items students had given them.
Salana Campbell, a third grade math teacher, said her desk, files and computer appeared to be ruined.
"I picked up my computer and turned it upside down and water just poured out," Ms. Campbell said.
Ms. Moore said there are a lot of unknowns - from whether she could use the intercom to whether the computers can be turned on.
"We're strong and we're going to get through this, but I don't know what's next," she said Tuesday night. "But I know this - we'll all work together and get through this."
School officials emphasized that safety was the No. 1 priority as they moved forward.
"We're going to make sure the school is safe," Lindale ISD School Board President Col. James K. "Red" Brown said while at the elementary school Tuesday night. "That's our No. 1 concern, and we're not going to reopen the doors until we're sure the school's safe."
Updated Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 at 8:18 a.m. CST
Updated Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 at 8:18 a.m. CST
