Officials don’t yet know when students can return to classes
Dan@BcTelegraph.com
A Tuesday evening storm ripped the ridge cap off the roof of Union County High School’s gym, allowing water to fall onto the playing surface and forcing officials to reschedule the match.
Schools Superintendent Mike Ripplinger said high winds also disrupted air-conditioning units, safety systems, cameras and internet service. Some motors on air-conditioning systems burned out and are being replaced. Ripplinger said he was uncertain whether a lightning strike or power surges caused the damage. By Wednesday, power and internet service had been restored.
The storm arrived around 6:25–6:30 p.m. Rain began first, followed by strong winds. Ripplinger said the system was “pretty quick and pretty violent.”
Trees fell and damaged fencing, with some sections ripped from their posts. A power line and transformer were down at the softball field. Minor water intrusion occurred at a few building entrances, but Ripplinger described it as insignificant.
The damage forced the district to cancel classes for Wednesday, August 19. As of Wednesday afternoon, Ripplinger had not made a decision about when students could return.
The damage at the gym occurred during a match with Lafayette County. Water leaked onto the middle of the playing surface, more than isolated drips but not a heavy flow. Staff placed trash cans and bins to catch the water. The moisture made the court unsafe, so the game was stopped and rescheduled for later in the season. No one was evacuated, and the roof remained intact.
“We will reschedule that for later in the season to kind of pick it up and go from there,” Ripplinger said. Officials with the Mayo-based school agreed to the change.
Maintenance crews worked Wednesday to assess and clean up damage. Ripplinger planned to meet later in the afternoon with school leaders and maintenance staff to determine next steps and the status of systems for the following day.
“We tried to do some things last night, but wanted to kind of, in the light of day, just have more time to assess everything and try to make whatever repairs to clean up,” he said.
