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Storms Rip Roof Off Gallatin Co. School

Posted: Thursday, May 26th

By: Emily Finnegan

GALLATIN COUNTY -- Gallatin County Schools are closed Thursday after storms caused extensive damage to part of the district's building.

A large portion of the roof on the elementary wing is gone, peeled back from the front of the building. It now lies in the playground behind the school. Superintendent Les Oyler thinks at least 12 classrooms are damaged.

"We're trying to move out as much as we can and save it in the way of Smartboards, computers, books, things of that nature," Oyler explained.

It could have been much worse--when the storm hit, it also sparked a fire in the building. Some of the custodians were inside at the time.

"There was some arcing. It was a small fire, it's been contained. There was really no damage sustained with it itself," said Oyler

Crews spent several hours in the school Wednesday night, racing the rain to try to keep damages down--and doing it all in the dark.

"We've had to shut power to the whole building," said Oyler, "We had some arcs going on, we can't even turn on emergency lighting because of the electrical problem."

Students are scheduled to be in class until the end of the week. The storm damage comes on the heels of the district's nine-day flood closure.

"It's nothing that can't be repaired, but it will keep us from functioning as a school for the rest of the school year, I think," Oyler told News Three.

He plans to spend the summer repairing the building, so it will be ready in time for the start of next school year. Administrators will survey the damage Thursday, and make a decision on whether or not to cancel the rest of the year.