COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Coach Bruce Shromberg had his Titan swim team up early Wednesday morning for practice.
The team was lined up ready to jump into the pool when Mother Nature started making a ruckus.
“I saw a little lightning off to my northwest, through the window here, so I said well, 'We better wait a little bit because it's lightning we aren’t getting in.' Then, two minutes later just woosh,” said Schomberg.
Within minutes the damage started to pile up at Titan Intermediate School — with most of it focused on the school’s pool.
“It came up over the hill and rattled the front door so hard they thought it would burst, we had at least one that shattered. But then, when they went outside and assessed the damage they saw the roof over the pool area was hanging off,” said Lewis Central Superintendent Dr. Brent Hoesing.
The roof over the pool was peeled back and tiles and other debris were thrown all over the inside of the facility.
But Hoesing says it didn’t take long for the Lewis Central community to step up and offer the school help.
“Everything started clearing off, then I got a call from the football coach he says 'Hey, I got a bunch of kids who want to help out. Can they come and help at least collect the stuff and get it off the hill?' And I said that would be amazing,” said Hoesing.
Looking forward, the Titan pool will be out of commission until the roof can be replaced. Hoesing estimates that could take at least three months or more to finish.
He said they don’t have an estimate on how much that project could cost, but they are thankful the storm didn’t damage any classrooms, meaning students won’t have any delays when they come back for the new school year.
“Hopefully, we will have it all buttoned up by at least our fall swim season for our high schoolers. It's not over any instructional areas so we can still have daycare and, if this runs a little late, we can still start on August 23. I'm not gonna have to worry about re-locating students so if there is a positive to be had, that’s it,” said Hoesing.
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