Hurricane Ian: One Year Later

28 • HURRICANE IAN: ONE YEAR LATER • 2023 School districts RECOVERING Elaine Allen-Emrich Staff Writer Parts of the Heron Creek Middle School roof lifted in the lobby and principal's office as 140 mph winds sent heavy debris onto vehicles in the nearby parking lot. Inside the North Port school, workers manned the gymnasium and classrooms filled with hurricane evacuees during the Sept. 28 hurricane. "Oh it wasn't pretty," said volunteer Heather Jorge. Jorge showed up at the school the day before to help transforming classrooms into makeshift areas for hundreds who couldn't shelter in place. "The lobby was completely destroyed along with other areas of the school," she said. "I felt so bad because the roof landed on a teacher's car." Jorge said the flooding between the classrooms made it impossible to navigate from one area to another. "I would try to walk and the water just pushed me backward no matter how hard I tried," she said. "It rained for hours and the water just had no where to go." For some who tried to leave the school immediately after the storm, their smaller cars flooded along Price Boulevard as the water was four foot. The road turned into a lake. It took nearly a year for the district to repair the lobby and other areas of the Heron Creek campus. "It cost millions," Heron Creek Principal Christine Lawrence said. "We worked around the construction. Then we reopened again as a hurricane station for Hurricane Idalia." At Larmarque Elementary School in North Port, water poured into the school causing evacuees with special needs to evacuate. Although Sarasota County schools were only closed for 13 days after Hurricane Ian, repairs still continue today. In Charlotte County Hurricane Ian was also brutal to some Charlotte County Public Schools. Assistant Superintendent Jeff Harvey said workers spent the summer replacing 47 roofs and repairing classrooms impacted by the hurricane. "Every single roof at LA Ainger Middle School had to be replaced," he said. "Myakka River Elementary suffered considerable damage. I believe the storm hit West County the hardest." He said classrooms still have leaks. "Ian created millions and millions in damage to the district including our transportation building in West County that's not being used right now." Harvey said no schools were unsalvageable like in 2004 after Hurricane Charley devastated Charlotte County. "All three high school lost its scoreboards," he said. "We had to replace baseball and football scoreboards. The fields all look great now. We lost fencing. We fixed them all before school began so they are all operational for school safety." Harvey said supply chain issues and a worker shortage delayed getting contractors to make some repairs. However, work is progressing. "These are commercial roofs, they cost a lot of money to repair or replace," he said. "We have more to do. We do (temporary) fixes and repairs to the ones that really needed to be done. Then we work on replacement roofs in the summer when the students aren't in the classrooms. I am happy we are progressing on these repairs." The Charlotte County School Board recently discussed potentially rebuilding Port Charlotte Middle School, which was built in 1972. The building sustained some roof damage and the HVAC system on the roof was damaged. Insurance paid $5 million for the damage. The board was told the building is made from block so it's hearty and withstands high winds and doesn't have the same damage as buildings with a lot of drywall. However, the bad news, according to School Board staff, is the middle school generally doesn't have enough damage for it to be rebuilt with state or federal hurricane replacement dollars. SUN photo by ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH After Hurricane Ian ripped through Port Charlotte High School, the scoreboard and other areas of the campus have been repaired. Jeffrey Harvey Photo by CHRIS TILLEY Damage after Hurricane Ian at Heron Creek Middle School in North Port, Oct. 4.

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