EF2 downs school; community there to lift it back up

Daily Iowegian (Centerville, IA)

March 09--SEYMOUR -- An EF2 tornado that swept through Seymour Monday night rendered the seventh through 12th grade school building useless for the rest of this school year and perhaps the next, Superintendent Brad Breon said Wednesday afternoon.

Breon's comments were made while Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds toured the damaged building and other areas in Seymour. Assisting Breon with the tour was Seymour school board member Dan Furlin Jr.

Breon said they are facing challenges. He said they need to get things organized and develop a plan.

Breon said finishing this school year will not pose much of a challenge. He said Seymour is way over the state hour requirement and has hours to give.

"Since Iowa went to the hourly. We don't go by days, we go by hours," Breon said. "So, we'll have to make up a few days. We just don't know how many yet. It won't be a big burden."

Both Breon and Furlin Jr. said they don't necessarily need any assistance from the state as long as their insurance covers the damage.

"As a school we took responsibility of making sure we had insurance," Furlin Jr. said. "You never want to use it but here it is. This is what you pay your premiums for."

Furlin Jr. said at least four buildings that were in place before Monday night's tornado are either no longer there or so severely damaged that that they will have to be demolished.

Furlin Jr. said the new gymnasium, the old weight room, the old locker room and the east wall of the old gymnasium will all be torn down.

Breon said the bus barn was a total loss as was the press box.

What the violence and destruction from the EF2 tornado hasn't damaged is the communities desire to get the school back to normal.

And getting back to a semblance of normal for Seymour schools is the use of the former Continental Care Center at Seymour for classrooms. By Wednesday afternoon volunteers had made considerable progress in converting the building suitable for classrooms.

After seeing first hand the damage to the seventh-12th grade building Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds made the short trip to Continental Care Center.

Branstad during a television interview talked about Iowan's incredible generosity and volunteer spirit.

"The community has done a phenomenal job of cleanup," he said. "And they have had a lot of volunteers that have come in from the surrounding area. Sometimes from quite a far distance."

"But I'm really impressed with Seymour and the people here and what they've done," Branstad said. "They've got a really good attitude. They've had a lot of good help to get it cleaned up so quickly."

"It's really heartwarming to see this outpouring of support and assistance that Seymour is receiving at this point and time."

Branstad said his visit to Seymour was a way to reassure people that the state of Iowa is ready to offer assistance. He said if anyone has a problem to contact the governor's office or the department of emergency management office to ask for help.

"When we have a disaster we can short-circuit some of the processes that might take longer to get help quicker and get permits and things done," Branstad said. "I know they want to get back to school and they're going to temporarily use this old nursing home. We want to make sure that all the permitting and all the assistance they may need from the various state agencies is provided in a very timely basis."

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