FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Flood water still surrounded Seagull Alternative High School and Walker Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale. The two were among at least a dozen Broward County public schools that suffered damage during the Wednesday deluge that forced closures Thursday and Friday.
During a meeting Friday, Valerie Wanza, the chief of staff for the school district, said flood water intrusion also damaged Castle Hill Elementary, Dillard Elementary, William Dandy Middle School, and the Whiddon Rogers Education Center.
“It is our goal to reopen all of our schools,” Wanza said. “Some may open differently, and we will know what that looks like later today or possibly tomorrow.”
Local 10 News received pictures from Walker Elementary where water covered almost the entire floor of classrooms and ceiling tiles were scattered due to the excessive rain.
“We are looking at as we assess, do we need to repair drywall, what do we need to do to flooring in some spaces?” Wanza asked.
Broward County Public Schools administrators and staff were preparing for a Monday reopening as area neighborhoods recover from the loss of the flood emergency.
Broward School Board chair Lori Alhadeff announced on Thursday that school and district offices would be closed on Friday and all events including before and after school activities, field trips, and evening classes are canceled on Friday.
“Regretfully we cannot fully assess all campuses, nor complete the necessary repairs at those we were able to assess,” Alhadeff said. “Additionally, many of our staff were unable to access school campuses due to heavy flooding.”
School district staff teams started to assess the damage of Wednesday’s torrential rain on Thursday, according to Keyla Concepción, a spokeswoman for BCPS.
“With that type of rain there could have been an extensive amount of damage to our roofs,” said Toni Barnes, the director of emergency management at BCPS, said on Thursday.
Barnes said the schools of more concern were in the southeast area of the county at neighborhoods in Hollywood, Dania Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, and Oakland Park.
An aerial view on Thursday afternoon from SKY 10, showed some of the athletic fields were still flooded at Attucks Middle School, at 3500 N 22 Ave., in Hollywood. There was also flooding outside two Dania Beach schools: Collins Elementary School, at 1050 NW 2 St., and Olsen Middle School, at 330 SE 11 Terrace.
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Afternoon related reports
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Flooding emergency in areas of Broward