School Climate & Safety

Storm Wreaks Millions in Damages In Texas and La.

By Julie Blair — June 20, 2001 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Tropical Storm Allison dropped between 15 and 36 inches of rain over just four days on southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana this month. It will take a lot longer than that—and millions of dollars—for schools to rebound from the storm.

“This has been a nightmare,” said Stephanie Cravens, the superintendent of the 4,200-student Sheldon Independent School District, located just east of Houston, where the weather was the worst and claimed four lives.

“Three- fourths of our school system is damaged,” she said. “It is devastating.”

Neither Texas nor Louisiana has collected information on the extent of the school damage caused by the storm that began June 4.

Individual school districts, however, are reporting collapsed roofs, waterlogged computer systems, ruined furniture, mud-filled hallways, and washed-out bus depots.

Impact in Houston

Floodwaters damaged 155 of the 300 schools run by the 210,000-student Houston Independent School District, 13 of which have sustained substantial problems, said Carmen A. Gomez, a spokeswoman. The district was able to draft a plan that allowed students to return to summer school last week, she said.

Schools in most districts in both Texas and Louisiana were open for summer school at the time of the storm, officials reported. But because the storm first hit the area during the evening hours, students were not in classes.

Estimating the Costs

Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston, took the brunt of the high winds and water. The Sheldon district and the neighboring, 12,600-student North Forest schools appear to have suffered the most severe damages in the region, Ms. Cravens said.

Five of the six schools in the Sheldon district are all but ruined, she said. Repairs to facilities are initially expected to cost taxpayers $10 million to $12 million, although damages could amount to much more. The district had only recently completed $23.5 million in renovations.

Administrators have yet to decide exactly where or when students will return to summer school, Ms. Cravens said. But the superintendent has resolved to ensure that schools are ready to open in August for the fall semester.

Overhauling facilities in North Forest is projected to cost about $7 million, Ms. Cravens said.

No further information could be obtained about that district, as telephones were still out of service in the area late last week.

A version of this article appeared in the June 20, 2001 edition of Education Week as Storm Wreaks Millions in Damages In Texas and La.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Teaching Students to Use Artificial Intelligence Ethically
Ready to embrace AI in your classroom? Join our master class to learn how to use AI as a tool for learning, not a replacement.
Content provided by Solution Tree
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Empowering Students Using Computational Thinking Skills
Empower your students with computational thinking. Learn how to integrate these skills into your teaching and boost student engagement.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
IT Infrastructure & Management Webinar
The Reality of Change: How Embracing and Planning for Change Can Shape Your Edtech Strategy
Promethean edtech experts delve into the reality of tech change and explore how embracing and planning for it can be your most powerful strategy for maximizing ROI.
Content provided by Promethean

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Spotlight Spotlight on Reimagining School Safety: A Holistic Approach
This Spotlight will help you examine strategies to create safe learning environments that promote student well-being and academic success.
School Climate & Safety How to Judge If Anonymous Threats to Schools Are Legit: 5 Expert Tips
School officials need to take all threats seriously, but the nature of the threat can inform the size of the response.
3 min read
Vector illustration of a businessman trying to catapult through stack of warning signs.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety What Schools Need To Know About Anonymous Threats—And How to Prevent Them
Anonymous threats are on the rise. Schools should act now to plan their responses, but also take measures to prevent them.
3 min read
Tightly cropped photo of hands on a laptop with a red glowing danger icon with the exclamation mark inside of a triangle overlaying the photo
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Opinion Restorative Justice, the Classroom, and Policy: Can We Resolve the Tension?
Student discipline is one area where school culture and the rules don't always line up.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week