Blizzard Damages Area Buildings, Boat Docks

 Jennifer Broaddus & Scott Thompson, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- The snow was too much for the middle school in Quapaw.  Part of the roof collapsed, which did major damage to three classrooms.

The school is looking for an alternative place to hold class once school is back in session.

Part of the roof of Hard Rock Casino in Catoosa also collapsed under the weight of Tuesday's snow.

2/1/2011 Related Story: No Injuries When Roof Collapses At Tulsa's Hard Rock Casino

But those weren't the only buildings about to buckle under the piles of powder. Snow caused damage at Grand Lake and an Ameristar fence building.

Green Country is covered in white. Grand Lake looks more like mountain town than a lakeside resort.

2/1/2011 Related Story: Boats Damaged As Docks Collapse At Grand Lake

"We have about 18 inches here and it's drifted and it's a rural community up here and it's going to take a while to get the roads here. It's just a lot of snow," Kelly Aberle, Shangri La Marina Owner, said.

A closer look uncovers docks struggling to stay afloat.

Kelly Aberle and her husband own Shangri La Marina. She says her slip was fortunate. It weathered the storm with minor damage.

"We didn't have any damange to any boats," Aberle said. "There are all fine. We've had about three docks that are leaning, you know one way."

But others weren't so lucky. News On 6 found several private docks with serious damage. The roof on one slip collapsed under the hundreds of pounds of snow and some boats are leaning so far their back-ends are barely out of the water.

Aberle said last year's big winter storm helped her prepare for this one.

"I think they are just built well," she said. "Placing the foam under them, last December in 2009 we had six inches of snow. So we just knew which ones we needed to work on."

With this much snow its looks like the folks here have a long time until people will return for a weekend on the lake. So until then, they might want to trade their water skis for a good set of snow skis and spend their time with a snow shovel instead of a fishing rod.

"England dock construction does our work for us and they are going to help us come get snow off the roofs this afternoon and get all of ours back up in shape," Aberle said. "So we'll be doing good."

The roof also collapsed at the Ameristar Fence Company, a large building on North Mingo road out by the Tulsa International Airport.