After the Asotin school flood

ASOTIN -- Asotin-Anatone Superintendent Dale Bonfield gets nervous every time it rains.

It’s hard to blame him after the Asotin school, which houses grades from elementary to high school, experienced extensive flooding June 9 when a rainstorm dropped 0.64 inches of precipitation in 23 minutes in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

The insurance company, Clear Risk Solutions, is paying $3-4 million in restoration “when it’s all said and done,” which includes drying out the building, cutting out water-damaged areas and then making the repairs, Bonfield said.

The school district also leases some offices and a special education classroom at the Asotin United Methodist Church, which had damages as well. The church will either sell the building to the district and take out the cost of damages from the price or pay back the district for the repairs.

The school building was assessed by the insurance company, which declared it a category 3 flood because of the oils and gases in the water. The flooding happened Friday, June 9, then crews dried out the building Saturday. By Sunday, the damage was assessed and repairs began Monday.

The school had experienced minor flooding three to five times since Bonfield started in the 2005-06 school year.

“But never to the same level it has this last time,” he said.

The water dropped so fast to the ground and the roof that the infrastructure was overwhelmed, causing the flooding. Entryways were flooded because outside drainage systems were overwhelmed, bringing water into classrooms, offices and bathrooms. Water was so high it also came through vents near the ground outside and through the ceiling as it was collected on the roof, coming through those vents as well.

Bookshelves, cabinets, carpets and desks, had to be replaced to prevent mold and mildew. The elementary school had already purchased $5,000 in paper, which then had to be replaced. School records were damaged and had to be thrown out.

“Anything that’s porous we had to get rid of,” Bonfield said because of the gases and oil in the water.

One of the classrooms had a sink and rain was coming down so fast it created back pressure causing sewer water to come up through the pipes, which then leaked into the elementary offices below. Some of the reasons why this occurred are still unclear, which means it’s not known how to prevent it from happening again. But the sink in the classroom was removed as one preventive measure.

“(That) room was the most damaged out of the entire school by far and it was on the second floor,” Bonfield said.

However, the Wilcox Gym is the “biggest area of damage cost-wise” Bonfield said. Although getting the gym ready in time for school to start isn’t at the top of the list. He’s hoping it’ll be done in time for athletic events. The gym is used for storage and, in order for the gym to be worked on, all supplies and furniture from classrooms and offices will need to be moved elsewhere.

The floor to the gym was damaged as water came in all the way to halfcourt. The flooding caused ripples on the hardwood, making it uneven and preventing the bleachers from being used because they can’t be rolled out. Even if they were able to use the bleachers, they likely have water damage as well.

“We would never get the water out,” Bonfield said about the bleachers. “The mold and stuff could continue to grow and cause health problems.”

The floor of the gym will need to be replaced entirely because the material it was originally built with doesn’t exist anymore. The walls of the gym also leaked, causing mold that will need to be removed and then the walls will be repainted.

The second all-purpose gym, Detrick Gym, also had water damage coming down from the roof and got some of the lights wet, which meant replacing those as well.

The kitchen, which was recently painted before the flooding, is also being used for storage. The cafeteria will be used for storage as well once it’s painted, which was already planned before the flooding.

“But it obviously changed our plans the way everything turned out,” Bonfield said.

When repairs first started, a company was contracted to get the water out and the building was assessed. Then once the full extent of the damage was realized, a bigger company, Belfor Property Restoration of Spokane, took over the project in order to get it done in time for the school year. Some local companies, like Guardian Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, also helped with repairs as well as plumbers and electricians.

During the restoration, some areas got a slight remodel. A science classroom, which was also an old home economics class, was made more suitable for its current use by creating more space and placing durable hardwood floors. A kindergarten classroom had a curtain to separate parts of the room, which was then made into a wall. The space between the wall and the next class will then be used for storage and a bathroom.

Other areas received new hardwood floors or carpet. For the carpet, the district purchased carpet squares so, if the carpet is stained, instead of replacing the entire carpet, the district can replace one of the squares. When the district got the carpet squares, there were only two options in stock that would be ready in time for school to start.

Although repairs from this year’s flooding are being done by the district, Bonfield is looking to do some preventative fixes for rainstorms and floods.

“The biggest anxiety in doing all this work and doing it nice, and then in two to three years we have it happen again,” Bonfield said.

For example, the rain the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley had this week made Bonfield concerned as it began to puddle up and caused some damage in the ceiling.

“We have concerns we still have to address,” Bonfield said.

Some of those fixes are easier than others. The Asotin school is at the lowest point in Asotin, so all the rainwater comes down to the school. The district worked with a civil engineer to regrade some of the areas around the school to prevent flooding and place some dry wells. The district also is working with stormwater managers and the city of Asotin to create a system that reroutes the water around the school.

“So we can keep this water from coming into the school again,” Bonfield said.

Another area of concern is the flat roof, which flows water into a 3-inch pipe that can’t keep up with large amounts of rainwater, causing the water to go into the school and gym. Repairs will be made to create better drainage and dry wells to prevent flooding in those areas.

All those prevention measures will have to be paid for by the school district because they are outside the cost from the insurance company to repair the school from the flooding. Bonfield was also told that dry wells need repairs and can sometimes fail, so money will need to be set aside by the school district to fix those.

Mitigating flooding for the long term is a goal for Bonfield and the district, but for now the focus is on this year’s flooding repairs and getting them done in time for the students’ arrival. Bonfield credits maintenance supervisor for the school, Chris Segroves, who worked with the restoration company, insurance company and the district to keep the project organized and moving forward in time for school to start Aug. 29.

“That’s been the biggest stress of the whole thing,” Bonfield said, getting it all done in time for the first day of school.

If the start date for school is delayed, then students and teachers have to go later into the summer. It might also mean eliminating breaks or reducing them, like at Christmas.

“It creates an exhausting year for everybody,” Bonfield said.

The school district was going to use portable classrooms but there was only one company available, which only rents their classrooms for nine months at a time. The district was going to need the portables for either the first few days of school or, at the most, the first month. The cost was $0.5 million for a portable classroom that would be empty and unused for most of the time the district would be renting it.

Without the extra space, the school building in Asotin doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room. All the classrooms are being used, so there’s no empty space for students and staff to move into while repairs are finishing up.

“We’re crossing our fingers that there won’t be any safety issues and we’ll be able to bring in students,” Bonfield said.

If students and staff can be inside, then they can work, teach and learn amidst the construction, which at this point they will be allowed to do as long as restoration keeps moving forward. For now, the construction team is working long hours seven days a week to have as much done in time for the Aug. 29 start date.

That also means teachers are having to plan their classroom while the construction work is being done.

“If you’ve been around teachers, you know there’s big anxieties for getting classrooms ready,” Bonfield said.

This year, at the start of the school year, “not everything will be perfect” Bonfield said. Even though it might not be the start the school would like, it turned out better than Bonfield expected. By having the flooding on the last day of school, it left the summer open for repairs.

“When we first started, I didn’t think there would be any chance,” Bonfield said about getting construction ready for the school year. At first, he was told the repairs would be done by March.

“The few setbacks we’ve had, they worked hard to get back on schedule,” Bonfield said.

Until repairs are completed, both short term and long term, Bonfield and those at the district are crossing their fingers for quick fixes and clear skies.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.