School plans unclear

Franklin County Superintendent Gary Williams made the decision to dismiss school at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday with reports of severe weather forecasted for the area for much of the day.

That decision proved to be one that could have meant the difference between life and death for some people in the area since the tornado ripped through the school and the surrounding area at approximately 3:45 p.m.

The beginning of the major destruction in the town seemed to begin at Phil Campbell High School and continued moving northeast across the county.

According to Williams, half the roof on the auditorium was torn off, the roofs in the junior high hallway and at the home economics/agriscience building are gone, parts of the roof at the gym and the library are missing, windows were blown out throughout the school, and the band room has only three remaining walls and no roof at all.

“All these areas where the roofs are missing have suffered flooding and water damage,” Williams said.

“We’ve been going in the past two days and trying to salvage what we can and move books and computers to store them at places that are dry.”

In addition to the school, the PCHS football stadium suffered severe damage with the restroom facilities, press box and concession stand being completely wiped out.

“The light towers were blown over as well, but the field house is still standing somehow,” Williams said.

Volunteers worked diligently Thursday morning hauling pieces of the mangled canopies, which used to protect students from the rain.

“It’s just devastating at Phil Campbell,” Williams added. “We’re just trying to do what we can right now.”

Phil Campbell Elementary, which is located directly behind the high school, was amazingly left with little damage and Williams said they would be able to resume classes there once power and water are restored to the area.

The high school, however, is another story.

“With all the damage the high school had, we’re going to have to find some other buildings where we can finish out the school year,” Williams said. “But most of the churches in the area are severely damaged or destroyed, so I don’t know where they’ll go right now. Plus, there isn’t any power in the area even if we could find a building, so we’re just going to have to keep looking for more options.”

Williams said he would be meeting with Phil Campbell principals and personnel on Monday and hoped to have more concrete plans in place after that time.

On Friday, Tharptown, Red Bay and Belgreen schools were all in session, but the continued loss of power and water prevented East Franklin and Vina schools from resuming their schedule.

“As soon as we’re able to get power and water back at Vina, East Franklin and Phil Campbell Elementary, they will resume school as well,” Williams said. “It’s just going to take some time for us to figure out what we can do about Phil Campbell High School.”

In addition to dealing with the damage at the school and trying to find a place for the students to finish out the year, Williams said his heart was heavy after receiving the news that a teacher from Phil Campbell Elementary and two elementary students were killed during the tornado outbreak. One other elementary student remains at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham.

“Buildings and structures can be replaced, but you cannot replace lives,” Williams said. “Losing a teacher and two students is just the worst thing that could have happened. It will be heartbreaking to the students who were friends with these children and to the rest of us who knew the teacher and what a great person she was.”

For now, Williams and many other volunteers will continue to the cleanup process and will just take it one day at a time.

“The amount of help we have had from people that have come it to cleanup has been outstanding,” Williams said.

“We’ve had members of the rescues squad and fire departments and members of the community all pitching in, and I just really appreciate all they’re doing to help us get back on our feet.”