Storm Damages Coweta School

Around six o'clock Monday evening, a storm blew through Coweta. No one was hurt, but Coweta's Intermediate Grade Center took a direct hit from the 80 mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain. The school

Tuesday, August 24th 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Around six o'clock Monday evening, a storm blew through Coweta. No one was hurt, but Coweta's Intermediate Grade Center took a direct hit from the 80 mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain. The school was glad to see blue skies Tuesday morning, even if it was through the holes in the storm-damaged roof. High winds tore the roof off four sixth grade classrooms and heavy rains drenched everything inside. But teachers teamed up to combine classes and went ahead with school as usual. "The kids have been super," said Principal Carolyn Rowe. "I've got a great faculty so it's not a problem to adapt to whatever we need to."

The storm caused more than $25,000 damage to the Intermediate Grade Center, where fourth, fifth and sixth graders attend class. There was other minor damage on school grounds. Coweta public schools superintendent Sam Farmer says work is underway to repair the problems as quickly as possible. "It could be weeks before we get back into normal operation," said Farmer.

For now, teachers are re-working lesson plans and taking inventory of lost materials. The biggest loss for teachers and students was the brand new computers valued at more than $5,000. "We just opened the boxes like a week ago," said teacher Diane Robertson, "and we were excited for the kids to have the new computers. It was heartbreaking as we saw water running out of the computers. It took us five years to get new computers."

But computers, like most everything else damaged by the storm, can be repaired or replaced. "We were very fortunate it happened after hours. It really could've been bad if the students were in the building," Farmer noted. School officials say they're very grateful for the support from parents, teachers and the community after the storm.