| Updated: 10/09/2009 10:31 pm |
Published: 10/09/2009 4:06 pm |
The National Weather Service blames straight line winds for doing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to Hampton Public Schools.
Winds up to 75 miles an hour tore through town knocking down power lines and uprooting trees. But look around the campus and you'll see damage that makes you wonder how no one got hurt.
Coach Jimmy May was in the middle of a PE class around 9:20 Friday morning when the weather got dangerous. "We started ushering kids to the other side of the gym," says May.
While the students were safe in the shower area, the wind tore off part of the roof, leaving pieces of the ceiling and buckets of rain in the floor. The same thing happened in the fine arts building. And outside the storm tore down powerlines and tossed fixtures haphazardly across campus. The storm hit the football field especially hard blowing down a play clock and damaging the press box. Amazingly, no one got hurt.
"My people were just very alert and very aware," says Vicky McDougald, curriculum coordinator for the school.
McDougald says insurance specialists are inspecting the damage, estimated to be more than $250,000 worth. She's especially worried about structural damage. "I'm really concerned about the west wall of the gym," she said.
The only buildings hit were going to be preserved in an upcoming remodeling project. But everyone knows it could have been worse.
The district canceled classes for Monday and district officials will decide then when it will be safe to go back to school.
As of Friday night about 2,100 customers were still without power. The National Weather Service planned to inspect damage in Warren, Arkansas Saturday.
