Damage assessment is ongoing at a South Surrey elementary school this week, after last weekend's intense rainstorm flooded its library and ground-level classrooms.
District officials confirm staff were alerted to trouble at South Meridian Elementary — at 16244 13 Ave. — on Saturday, June 15, "and found the entire first floor of the school was flooded."
"The district team assessed the damage, minimized the impact on school property, including books and furniture, and brought in a restoration company immediately," spokesperson Rena Heer said by email.
"The restoration company and district staff worked through the weekend to minimize the impact on students and families."
The school was closed on Monday (June 17) for repairs and restoration.
According to one parent, there was an inch of water throughout the lower level, and damage to the school's book stock was extensive.
"The librarian was saying even if she got all of the money for all of the books, it would take her years to be able to reorder everything," Courtney Peluso said Thursday (June 20). "It's a big job that I don't even think could be done in one school year."
Rain and hail pelted the South Coast on June 15. On the Semiahmoo Peninsula, it was most evident along White Rock's waterfront, where flooding prompted temporary road closures at Marine Drive and Oxford Street. At least one business was also affected: the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Johnston Road had to close for two days due to flooding.
Peluso's six-year-old son Sebastian attends kindergarten at South Meridian.
She said his and one other primary classroom at the front of the school were most impacted by the flooding, and that teachers have had to do some juggling this week to manage. Fortunately, with the end of the school year just around the corner, many classes are busy with year-end field trips.
"They're just trying to keep (the students) out of the school as much as possible and switch them all around so they can use whatever classrooms are dry," Peluso said. "Keep the school open, somewhat."
The library, however, is "unusable," she said.
She noted the parent advisory committee had bolstered its shelves with $10,000 worth of books this year.
"Although the books weren't in the sitting water, there was so much moisture by the time it got addressed, all of the pages are all wavy and it looks like all the books are going to be damaged.
"It's just so upsetting to imagine all of this stuff is now lost," Peluso said.
