Storms damage school in Prairie Home

Firefighters assessed the storm damage in Prairie Home Wednesday morning after strong winds and heavy rain raced through Mid-Missouri.

The school in Prairie Home was damaged by wind overnight. School Principal Patrick Tray said an employee called him at around 4:30 this morning saying the roof of the school had been torn off.

Tray said when he arrived, there were already people helping clean up, including sheriff’s deputies, the mayor, and even recent graduates.

The ceiling in the back part of the building collapsed onto the floor and filled the hallways around that area.

That part of the building was built in 1936.

Prairie Home junior Danielle Paulson said, “You don’t expect something like this and when it’s here it’s incredible and you don’t ever imagine it happening to you.”

School Superintendent Steve Barnes said they are lucky in a way.

“Thank God we didn’t have any kids here, nobody was working, it wasn’t in the middle of school.”

Barnes said one of the perks to a small town is everyone will lend a hand to help, and that school officials from surrounding counties called all day to see if they needed help.

Principal Tray said they would have the roof sealed off by the end of the day, but they do not know the cost of the damages or when the repairs will be finished.

There are also numerous trees down throughout the area.

You can see more damage photos by clicking here.