The Dare County Board of Education members started their Sept. 10 meeting with a moment of silence for all those effected by Hurricane Dorian. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the community,” said Superintendent John Farrelly. “We have been working 24/7 since the day the hurricane landed.”

Cape Hatteras Secondary School experienced the most damage from Dorian of any of the Dare schools. “It was an absolute devastation,” said Farrelly as he explained the damages to the school. One-third of the roof was torn by the harsh winds and the front wall to the media center was impacted.

Rain came in the gym, fish hatchery and multiple classrooms while Dorian grew in intensity along the coast. The sandbags “went a long way” in preventing more damage, according to Farrelly, who was there to help with the countless hours of cleanup that followed the storm.

The gym floor may be salvageable. Most of the damage was found in older parts of the complex, while the new portions of the school were barely affected.

“Our community is amazing and we know how much they care and love their kids,” said Farrelly.

There is still work to be done in the school in order to get it fully up and running again. According to facilities director Russ Gurganus, who has been working diligently on getting as much fixed as soon as he can, the media center is a big holdup right now. “It’s definitely going to take some time,” Gurganus admits.

After inspection of the roof damages, the rough estimate of repair cost is $400,000.

Cape Hatteras Secondary School opened back up Monday, September 16, as the board and DCS staff hoped it would be able to.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

RECENT HEADLINES:

Woman run over by Chicamacomico Fire Dept. pickup dies

Restricted Ocracoke reentry procedures outlined