Nearly four years after a powerful storm destroyed the Vidor (Texas) district's middle school, construction has begun on a new building.
The Beaumont Enterprise reports that fifth- and sixth-grade students were displaced from Vidor Middle School in August 2017 when Tropical Storm Harvey severely damaged the campus.
Since then, students have been housed in portable classrooms, and district officials have negotiated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster aid to pay for construction of a new middle school..
After FEMA agreed to provide the lion's share of funding for the $18.6 million construction project, the district was able to move forward with groundbreaking.
The tropical storm also destroyed Oak Forest Elementary in Vidor, and the district began construction last year on a new facility. The design calls for lifting the building 18 inches off the ground to reduce the chance of flooding, reports The Orange Leader.
