After the flood
By Jefferson Robbins, The Wenatchee World, Wash. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"The library's flooded," Waterman told him. Then, as he walked on through the school interior: "Wait -- the media center's flooded too."
And there was more. When Noell got inside, he found multiple first-floor classrooms and offices drenched from a water leak in the chemistry lab one floor up. This as the school neared the end of a
"My first response was anger," said Noell, entering his second year as EHS principal, "which was immediately replaced by sorrow. People had worked so hard."
The leak apparently started sometime late
The water destroyed the lab's suspended ceiling, rained back to the floor, then traveled laterally along joins and channels beneath the floor to drip into the library and media center below. The business lab was swamped, along with the computer lab and some nearby general purpose classrooms. Twenty-four running computers got soaked, as did wallboard, insulation, carpets, desks and cabinetry.
"It was terrible," said
Miraculously, though, almost no library books or other printed matter were lost in the deluge. Garthwaite said the precise dollar amount of damage isn't known, but said it could be in excess of
However, both Garthwaite and Noell said Tuesday the destruction won't affect the start of classes a week from now.
"If you show up on the 3rd at 7:30, you wouldn't know what happened," Garthwaite said.
By Tuesday, the construction crew was deep into repairs. Removal of all the water and soaked structure materials was declared complete Tuesday morning, meaning renovation could proceed with little fear of future mold outbreaks.
The slipped tube was within a fumehood assembly -- a lab appliance manufactured for schools by Sheldon Laboratory Systems of
Garthwaite said the coupling is being assessed by
The district's multiple tiers of insurance will fully cover the damages, but the
Almost 1,400 students are expected to show up when classes open next week.
Reach
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