Strong winds peeled back the roof at an elementary school in Watauga Monday night, leading to water damage inside. Birdville ISD canceled class at Hardeman Elementary Tuesday and will relocate students to Richland Elementary.
The district says a section of the roof was damaged over the fourth and fifth-grade classrooms at Hardeman. Tuesday morning, crews were at the school removing damaged furniture and flooring. A total of six classrooms were damaged.
A Birdville ISD facilities worker was also flying a drone over the school to survey damage to the roof.
"If this had been during school, it could have been a whole lot worse," one man who was looking at the damage said. "Thank God it wasn't."
No students or staff were hurt.
A woman who lives across the street was taking pictures of the school Tuesday morning. She says she stayed "in my safe place, with the pillow over my head" during the storm.
"It's scary, very scary," she says. "We're really fortunate [no one was hurt]. I just feel like the good Lord took care of me last night."
She says both her kids went to Hardeman.
"It's amazing how it picks on schools," she says, referring to damage at two schools in Jacksboro. "I was talking one of the guys over there, and he said, 'Yeah, it just rolled that roof up like a burrito.'"
Hardeman students will not have class Wednesday but will join Richland Elementary on Thursday. Richland Elementary is at 3520 Scruggs Park Dr. in Richland Hills.
Birdville ISD said it would provide buses to Richland each day or parents could drop their children off at school. Details on the bus scheduled were to be released on Wednesday.
Across Deborah Lane, Watauga Middle School was not damaged, and classes continued as scheduled Tuesday.
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