May 26, 2013

9/6/11 - For the 450 students who will return to classes at Middleburgh High School/Middle School later this month, there will be changes - some of them are obvious and some of them are not.

"A disaster of this size is one that nobody here will ever forget," said Superintendent Michele Weaver. "Everybody - students, staff and parents - have come to the school and helped in any way they could. This is the center of this community and people take pride in this school."

And while the flooding of 1996 was also memorable, it was nothing compared with the five feet of mud that filled the gymnasium, cafeteria, boiler room, technology and distance learning classrooms and old bus garage on the HS/MS campus. The track was covered under mud.

Note the 'mud line' in the hallway at the bottom. In most cases, mud and water rose to as much as five feet above the floor.

Weaver said she has been grateful for the hundreds of volunteers who converged on the school to help in the aftermath "and the outpouring of help from every place." The cleanup has been going well but the biggest problem facing the school district right now at the building: no power. Until the cleanup is further along, circuits can not be energized.

The district has time to repair major items, like the furnace to the building. School can start without that operating but other items, such as the electricity, has to operate and be safe.

Scott Furguson and his business, PuroClean Services in Canajoharie, have been on site and leading the cleanup effort. "He has been a lifesaver for us all," said Weaver. Today, 65 Air Force National Guardsmen from the Stratton Air Base in Scotia were also at the school to help clean the muck and water.

She also said that bus routes have to be studied because many roads are still impassable or have washed away in the 11 towns that make up the Middleburgh Central School District.

"I was very surprised at the lack of emergency preparedness in the Schoharie Valley for something like this," said Weaver, noting that no preparations would have been perfect but they could have been more thorough. "There weren't stocked shelters. There weren't plans for evacuations. I hope that we can all come together and make these plans something that will work for us all in the future - we always need a Plan B," she added.

Click on the photos below to enlarge them. These photos were taken after the flooding was discovered and the water had mostly receded but the mud remained:

    
High School cafeteria serving line                                        High School cafeteria

    
High School gymnasium                                                     High School gymnasium

    
High School hallway                                                            High School weight room

    
High School technology classroom                                       High School technology classroom

    
High School technology classroom                                       Gymnasium entrance

     
Mulch outside the front of the high school                            Mud-covered walkway alongside the building

    
Damaged high school track                                                 Tennis courts

     
 Former bus garage next to high school                                Former bus garage next to high school (note mud line)