Taking Toll of EPHS Water Damage

Most of the water from the heating-unit pipe that broke for a second time and flooded 20 classrooms at East Providence High School overnight Thursday was mopped up by Clean Care of New England crews by mid-morning. 

And the obvious damage was to ceiling tiles, some floor tiles, some electronic equipment in some of the classrooms – all in the new wing.

The real cost of the flooding won’t be known until today, said Interim Superintendent John DeGoes.

“We’ve asked all the teachers to go through their classrooms to determine what was lost,” said DeGoes. “We really won’t know until this is done.”

Most of the water-logged classrooms are expected to be cleaned up or dried out enough by dehumidifiers for use by Monday morning, said DeGoes and Principal Janet Sheehan. That’s when the school is expected to reopen again.

But some classrooms won't be ready, they said.

“We’ll move them to other classrooms,” Sheehan said.

Facility supervisor Tony Feola said the damage to the tile floors also still had to be assessed. The tiles in some classrooms might need to be ripped up and replaced because of rust-colored stains from the water.

School Committee Chairman Joel Monteiro, who surveyed the damage first-hand along with School Committee member Richard Pimental, said: “It could have been a lot worse.”

Monteiro likened the flooding to “your water heater breaking at home.” But on a much bigger scale.

Custodial crews found the flooded classrooms when they arrived around 6:30 am Thursday, said Feola.