As Kinston recovers from Saturday’s severe storms Saturday, no area in the city seems to have taken a bigger hit than its public high school.
Kinston High finally had all its power back on Monday, losing it when two power poles were damaged by Saturday’s inclement weather.
“The city’s damage was the extent of the two damaged electric poles,” Kinston Public Services Director Rhonda Barwick said. “One was damaged near the ground broken off, and the other about 15 feet from the top. The wind was so strong.”
The wind also brought down many limbs, trees and other types of debris down around the school. Although there wasn’t any structural damage affecting the school, around the baseball field, fences were bent, shingles fell from the roof of a shed and bleachers were bent after being pushed into the backstop.
Perhaps the biggest — and most costly — piece of property damage was to the student-constructed house behind the high school. Strong winds pushed the house off of its foundation and knocked it back about 10 to 12 feet by Kinston High Principal Angela Bryant’s estimates.
“The construction tech students build the house in the back to sell in an auction every year,” Bryant said. “We had someone ready to purchase it, but the wind blew it off of the blocks. Right now, it’s too early to tell the amount of damage. We’re going to get it inspected, but it will cost thousands to get the house off the ground.”
Some Kinston High administrators took the initiative to clear some of the damage themselves. Principals, custodian workers and teachers came out to the school around 6:45 a.m. to pick up debris.
“We have a great sense of pride in our school,” Assistant Principal Audrey Harrell said. “We know the students and teachers are coming soon and we wanted to welcome them back with a good looking exterior. The campus is a reflection of the work we do inside.”
For now, Bryant is focused on continuing the process of making Kinston High look good inside and outside while waiting on the overall costs of the damage.
“Right now, it’s too early to tell,” Bryant said. “The insurance adjusters have to come in and we just got the power restored. Right now, we’re just in cleanup mode.”
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 or Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.