On July 16, 2024, a flood occurred overnight at WMC, primarily affecting the D Wing. The roof above the D-wing was being redone and multiple layers were going to be added to the roof. However, only the first layer was in place. The WMC staff were informed by the vendors that it was waterproof and ready for whatever rain may come. That was not the case as there were about four inches of rain that night. WMC was now facing the hard and committed work of ensuring the school was safe to open for students and teachers when the doors opened on August 21st.
WMC’s principal, Mr. Rymer received a phone call at about ten at night on July 16th from one of the assistant superintendents, Mr. Braun. Mr. Braun said, “The D wing is flooding.”
Recalling this night, Mr. Rymer states that WMC staff “…went into triage mode to save what we could and protect what we could.” So much so that Mr. Braun even remained on campus throughout the night, along with WMC’s maintenance teams and facilities. They protected the equipment that was located in the D-Wing including computer servers, Chromebooks, computers, etc. Although some of the technological pieces were ruined, many more would’ve been destroyed if these members of the WMC facility and staff hadn’t stayed overnight.
There was a fear that the flood would delay WMC’s opening on August 21 or that classes and students located in the D-Wing during the day would have to be relocated. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case.“Based on the absolutely miraculous work of our facilities and maintenance teams we were able not only to open on time, but all of those spaces were repaired in an unbelievably efficient manner so that we could open our doors…and all of our students could access our entire building without delay” said Mr. Rymer.
Mr. Rymer went into the school early the very next day on July 17th to see the damage that the flood had caused. It was evident that some of the ceiling tiles had caved in and were wet. The intercom system, fire alarm system, and anything electrical in the ceiling were damaged by the water from the flood. There was a pile of debris from the ceiling tiles left outside the doors of the D-Wing where many students enter and leave the building. Despite that, Mr. Rymer explains how various maintenance teams immediately got to work. “The first 48 hours after a flood is the most important because that’s when the environmental damage can happen” he stated.
The maintenance teams successfully removed all of the ceiling piles and an environmental team dried out and cleaned the area as quickly as possible so that there was no risk of mold. They immediately tested the air to make sure the air quality was safe for everyone. Blowers and dehumidifiers were set up to remove all the moisture from the air to then circulate clean air. Floors were vacuumed and dried, and at that point, all of the damaged ceiling tiles were removed. Mr. Rymer said “The entire cafeteria got new lighting. The classrooms have all-new lighting. And the hallways got all new lighting because the water got into all those lights, right, and destroyed those lights.”
Mr. Rymer’s initial thought process when he first heard about the flood was to do everything in his power to open school on time. Mr. Rymer stated, “…my goal was to do anything I could, to support the maintenance team, support the technology team, to allow us to get back to school on time…so that on the opening day of school, you could go in D109 and D118 and the cafeteria and look up and look around as if nothing ever happened.” Fortunately, that is exactly what happened.
Mr. Rymer had to be optimistic but also realistic at the same time during the recovery. Therefore, a plan was developed assuming that the D-Wing would not be repaired on time. Classes were relocated, different scenarios were created to bring food in for lunch, etc. Fortunately, Mr. Rymer never needed this plan. “One of the best things for me throughout this whole experience was to take that plan we had developed, just in case we couldn’t open school, and I took that plan and ripped it in half” stated Mr. Rymer. The dedication of the various teams involved in the cleanup allowed WMC to open on time and have the D-Wing entirely ready and safe for the students and staff when they returned on August 21st.
On behalf of WMC’s students and teachers, thank you to the multiple teams, Mr. Rymer, Mr. Braun, and any other administrators involved in the clean-up of the flood for your hard work and determination in making sure our school was environmentally safe and functionally for us to return just over a month later from when the flood happened. Your hard work and efforts do not go unnoticed.
