Heavy rain wreaks havoc in Oyam, destroys school
The roof of a sickbay was blown off by a heavy downpour at Iceme Girls' Secondary School Oyam District. PHOTO | BILL OKETCH
What you need to know:
- The rains, which lasted about two hours, were punctuated by lighting, hailstorms and strong winds.
The administration of Iceme Girls’ Secondary School in Oyam District is grappling with the damage left by a heavy downpour that left several buildings de-roofed on Tuesday.
The rains, which lasted about two hours, were punctuated by lighting, hailstorms and strong winds.
The disaster blew off roofs of Senior One and Senior Six classroom blocks, sickbay and teachers’ houses and uprooted a number of trees.
Sister Joyce Moria Dayo, the headmistress, said: “The roof of our sickbay is blown off, two iron sheets were removed from the roof of the Senior One classroom block, one iron sheet also removed from the Senior Six classroom block, and two iron sheets were removed from the store.”
“One iron sheet was also removed from the roof of a teacher’s house. The roof on our examination hall is disengaged but not blown off, some of the trees planted for windbreak also were broken, and part of the store for our generator was also damaged,” she added.
The disaster struck the school when most of the about 500 students enrolled at one of the oldest government schools in the area had gone back home for the holidays. Only candidate classes who were doing their mock exams were at the school.
Sister Dayo said no casualties were registered, adding that they had informed relevant authorities about the disaster and were still waiting for their response.
“We would wish those who are willing to help us to come forward with some contributions that may help us to replace the blown-off iron sheets, and then some timbers for fascia board, and then, of course, we need a replacement for the sickbay which was totally destroyed,” she said.
