Fire & Life Safety

Flooded school forces Texas district to cancel classes for at least a week

Deweyville Elementary in Deweyville, Texas, is under water after flooding that is being called the worst in more than a century.
March 18, 2016

The Deweyville (Texas) school district has canceled classes at least through next week as the area copes with flooding that is being called the worst in more than 100 years.

Schools "will remain closed thru the week of March 21-25 for all students and staff," Superintendent Kevin Clark announced on the district's web site. "We will re-evaluate the situation at the end of next week and make any further announcements at that time."

The town of about 1,100, which sits on the Texas-Louisiana border, has been inundated with flooding from the Sabine River after the area received more than 20 inches of rain in the last week.

One of the district's two campuses, Deweyville Elementary School, remains under water. The junior-senior high school campus is being used as a staging area for the rescue and recovery personnel.

District officials raised the possibility that when classes resume, the high school campus eventually could be used as a temporary site for elementary school students.

The area flooding also has damaged two buildings at the Lamar State College campus in Orange, KBMT-TV reports. The Green Avenue Building flooded with more than nine inches of water, and the Wilson Building with more than two inches of water.

Video from KBMT-TV:

About the Author

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

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