A private, central Wisconsin high school is shut down as volunteers clean up flooded classrooms and damaged ceilings. The pipeline break is being called a blessing by the school’s leaders.
Dave Beringer, the administrator of Wisconsin Valley Lutheran High School in Mosinee, carries a step ladder for repair crews, negotiating a path through a noisy hallway lined with high powered fans.
Beringer looks at the gaping hole in the ceiling, and the mountain of soaking wet, pink insulation that covers the floor, “We had a huge amount of water come into the ceilings, through the ceilings, onto the floors, broke through the ceilings itself, went into the classrooms, into the hallways, damaged books, computer room of course, it had to be that room.”
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On Monday, the students came, even though the massive pipeline break had closed the school. They emptied the rooms, piling books, computers and desks into a commons area, salvaging what they could.Beringer sees a religious metaphor of hope in the midst of a flood, “A humbling experience.About 70 percent of our student body was here. For them to come and show up, and their parents and grandparents and just people that don’t have any kids in our school, but just wanted to come and help. Extremely blessed. We were extremely blessed.”
There’s no damage estimate yet at Wisconsin Valley Lutheran. The regional high school plans to reopen on Monday.
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