Emmaus High School was hit by flooding after heavy rain and clogged storm drains moved rainwater through the lower level of the school on the night of November 2, 2018. The main office, auxiliary gym, wrestling room and 40 lower level classrooms were affected by the flooding. The EHS custodial staff was on site during the event and responded immediately after observing flood waters rushing the building’s Macungie Avenue entrance. Thankfully, the quick response from the high school custodial staff prevented more serious damage from occurring.
After the initial assessment, District officials secured the services of RestoreCore, a third party disaster restoration contractor. RestoreCore was on site within hours to begin remediation work. By 1:00 PM on Saturday, all standing water was removed from hallways, classrooms, and impacted areas. The next day RestoreCore and the EPSD staff focused on removing carpeting, drywall, and any porous surfaces that needed to be replaced. Industrial dehumidification units were placed in the building with the expectation that the impacted areas will be fully remediated and certified for occupancy as soon as possible. The district then secured the services of Hillmann Consulting to advise, direct, and certify the ongoing remediation process.
Part of the remediation process was addressing student property that was located in lockers in the impacted locations of the building. RestoreCore tagged and dry cleaned any wet clothing and shoes. District property, such as wet textbooks, were discarded and replaced.
Due to the extent of the remediation process, Emmaus High School was closed for students on Monday, November 5 through Friday November 9, 2018. Emmaus High School opened to all students and staff on Monday, November 12, 2018. Due to the hard work of our remediation team and EHS staff, the number of unavailable classrooms was reduced from 40 to 16. School administration was able to relocate all class periods scheduled to be held in these 16 rooms into other available classrooms throughout the building. Everyone at Emmaus High School appreciated the communities’ patience and kind words of support throughout the remediation process.
A special thank you goes out to the faculty and staff who worked tirelessly throughout the week to assist in cleanup and remediation efforts. Their hard work ensured that the district would be able to return students to a clean and safe learning environment quickly and efficiently.
There are no words that can express our gratitude to our community for helping us get through this devastating event. Thank you for your generous donations of coffee, water, snacks, and meals. You have no idea how much everyone appreciated it after working around the clock. A special thank you goes out to:
Weis Markets
Countryside
BJ’s Brewhouse
Mechanics Plus
EHS Red Cross Club
EHS Boys Soccer
EHS Hall Monitors/Staff Assistants
Mike and Jen Carolla
Rose Gieseke
Parkland HS bus drivers
Café Bachi
Jersey Mikes
Cookies tray from two students
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza
Nutrition Inc.
East Penn Diner
Yocco’s
Chick Fil-A
and many more…
Our community members are rock stars! We could not have gotten through this without your help.
