The weather on the South Plains can change in an instant, which can lead to major damage. Last week, the region had some pretty strong wind gusts, so strong in fact, it caused some damage to Floydada ISD’s secondary school construction project.
“We live in West Texas. We’re going to have lots of wind and sometimes we sustain wind damage,” said Floydada ISD superintendent Gilbert Trevino.
Strong winds from last week knocked down a wall that was roughly 50 feet in length and two stories high. The wall, which was made up of cinder block and cement, crashed to the ground on Friday afternoon.
The construction site affected is the future Floydada Secondary School, set to open May of 2020. Thankfully, no one was injured and the damage only set the schedule back a few weeks.
“We’ve asked them to double up on crews to make up some time,” Trevino said.
In the meantime, Floydada administrators are monitoring the progress from outside the construction zone.
“It’s just disappointing to see because it’s exciting when they start to build the walls up this high and then just to watch the damage, I feel somewhat disappointed in that,” he said.
This week, crews are working to clean up the mess before they can start to rebuild. Engineers are on scene this week as well to make sure the structural integrity is still good on the remaining walls.
Floydada ISD said insurance will cover the costs of the fallen wall so it won’t come out of school budget. And construction workers are now building the walls with steel beams in place before building the walls.
Mr. Trevino sent a letter to students, parents and staff when the wall initially fell. Here’s a copy of that letter:
