Lake Taylor Middle School
NORFOLK -- After the November Nor'easter, Norfolk is examining one of its main emergency shelters.
During the storm Thursday night, a tree branch broke a window at Lake Taylor Middle School and a gust of wind ripped off part of the roof. More than a dozen evacuees had to be transferred to a different shelter because the school began taking on water.
"We had small children with us, so the first thing we did was actually move into action so our parents and children felt supported," said principal Michelle Williams-Moore. She helped transfer the families to another shelter.
Norfolk has seven approved hurricane evacuation shelters. Lake Taylor Middle School is the only facility that is outside of the category 4-inundation flood zone, so it's one of the city's primary shelters.
"We have to be able to protect our citizens," said Thomas Pristow, Director of Human Services. "When they come to us for shelter, we're the safety net, and we have to provide a safe and stable structure for them to be held in."
But maintenance records show Lake Taylor Middle School has had problems with its roof before.
Norfolk Schools Chief Operations Officer Michael Spencer said about two years ago part of the roof ripped off the south wing of the building. He said the roof is only about ten years old, so he thought the rest of it was sturdy.
"I don't know that we could have anticipated this," Spencer said. "Obviously if we could have, we wouldn't have offered it as a shelter to the city."
Now because of the damage from the Nor'easter, Spencer said the district will examine the entire roof to check for problems.
"We don't know if it's a design issue or what," said Spencer. "It does present us with a great opportunity to redesign and make sure it's right."
In all, 15 classrooms were damaged by the storm. As of Tuesday afternoon, three of them were still being repaired. Students were moved to other classrooms. The total damage at Lake Taylor Middle School is about $120,000.
