The cost of damage to Broward County Public Schools from last week’s devastating rains and floods will likely exceed $10 million, with nine schools requiring major repairs, according to school officials.
Last Wednesday the area witnessed record rainfall amounts in a matter of hours, ranging from 15 inches to 26 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
The flooding caused damage at a dozen schools, but the nine that suffered the worst were in Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. Schools were reopened Monday after being closed for two days.
Much of the cost will go towards overtime work. The district worked over the weekend to clear water from schools and remove drywall and flooring that had been soaked. They installed ventilation and dehumidifiers to keep mold away.
The flooding left many students without transportation to school and some without many belongings to return home to.
One of the hardest hit locations was the theater at Parkway Middle School in Lauderhill. Principal Angeline Flowers said that students at the performing arts magnet school were in the middle of a production of a play called The Wiz.
"We had to cancel the show,” she told reporters Thursday during a tour of the school with several board members.
At Stranahan High School in Fort Lauderdale, the weight room and auditorium were so damaged that students won't be let inside. The district had replaced the drywall in the weight room and other affected classrooms before a tour Thursday. The flooring was stripped from the weight room and wrestling room. Treadmills and other electric exercise equipment were ruined.
The school's JROTC room was gutted other than a few salvageable desks. The most extensive damage was done to the auditorium which saw about three feet of water. Inside, carpeting and seats were removed. The stage held whatever furniture could be saved.
Principal Michelle Padura said the district acted fast to replace drywall and install ventilation to prevent mold, but there are still months of work ahead to restore it.
“The auditorium is completely gutted,” said Padura, who said the auditorium sustained up to 3 feet of flooding.
School board members Sarah Leonardi, Debbi Hixon and Jeff Holness, who toured the schools with reporters on Thursday, said they hope the state and federal government will help cover the costs of repairs.
"We're hoping that FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] will come in because [Broward] was declared a state emergency. But we do have non-allocated reserves that would hopefully be able to to help us recoup whatever we're spending out right now," said Hixon.
Staff from FEMA have descended on the area to do damage assessments and calculate what federal aid may be needed. Gov. Ron DeSantis last Thursday declared a county−wide state of emergency.
The storm forced the closure for nearly two days of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and disrupted operations at Port Everglades, leaving long lines at area gas stations throughout South Florida.
According to Broward school district officials, the nine schools with the worst flooding damage were:
Attucks Middle
Olsen Middle
Parkway Middle
Seagull Alternative School
Steven Foster Elementary
Stranahan High
Walker Elementary
Westwood Heights Elementary
Whiddon Rogers Education Center
