VALLEY MILLS, Texas — Severe storms on Wednesday, April 26 caused severe damage to cars, homes and schools across Central Texas.
The storms were so bad in Valley Mills, TX that the school district cancelled classes throughout the rest of the week to repair the damage done.
"I don't think you could ever prepare for what happened yesterday," Chris Dowdy, Valley Mills Superintendent, said. "You can make sure everyone was safe, that's the most important thing."
There were flooded halls, stripped roofing and dry wall pieces everywhere.
"It was obvious when we walked in that there was water everywhere. There were ceilings getting ready to burst, and at that time we realized that we weren't going to be able to have kids in classrooms today," Dowdy said. "We immediately called the restoration company to come out and they were here within the hour to start the restoration process."
Dowdy had arrived at the high school Thursday morning expecting to run school as normal, but quickly realized that wouldn't be possible.
"This is the first time that I've been through this," Dowdy. "Not only the storm itself, but also just the aftermath of the restoration company coming in and helping us get things cleaned up and surveying the damage on the campus and what needs to be done to get back on our feet."
With damage to most of the school, closing for one day wasn't enough.
"We'll take the extended weekend to allow them to do some extensive cleanup and hopefully Monday morning we'll be back as normal," Dowdy said.
But for now, clean up continues while community members come together in true neighborly fashion.
"Whenever there is tragedy or anything like that, we are always picking each other up because either we have gone through something like that or we would want that help if something did happen to us," Dowdy said.
There was no harm to any employees, students or staff during the storm. With heavy rain expected in the forecast within the next few days, Dowdy is concerned but says that a temporary roof is being put in place on the building to avoid future damage.
The restoration crew said that they would not be able to have the area clean by the next school day, so school was canceled at Valley Mills through Friday, April 27 as well to ensure that the team could work to create a safe environment for all students and faculty.
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