CHEROKEE, Iowa — Flood waters have crept into pretty much every aspect of Iowa life, including education.
Multiple schools are now grappling with canceled summer programs and damaged buildings.
The halls and gym of Rock Valley Christian School are now muddy and warped after holding what a city official said was at least a few feet of standing water. They said everything on the ground is destroyed. That means books, cabinets, rugs and anything else the water could reach.
The public school in the area is dealing with the same issues, according to a city official.
Rock Valley Community Schools officials have since announced that junior high softball and baseball seasons are canceled for the rest of the year.
Over at Cherokee Community Schools, things look brighter. But that doesn’t mean the flood didn't leave a mark on the community.
“For a few days, it wasn’t just the long drive. There was literally not a single road - gravel road or bridge open. They were all underwater," School Board President Jodi Thomas said.
She told Local 5, that because of those inaccessible roads, they can't reach a fourth of the kids they used to in the free summer lunch program.
Also, staff commutes to the school became longer due to road closures.
Still, the schools are finding ways to give back by turning the high school into a community resource center.
“It’s a shelter for people who were forced out of their homes," Cherokee Community Schools Superintendent Tom Ryherd explained.
They're also collecting donations like fans to distribute across the community.
“The number of phone calls we’ve fielded from people asking what they can donate, what they needed to do, how they can help, it’s been overwhelming at times," Ryherd said.
He added that all the support goes to show that in Iowa, neighbors show up for one another.
“One of my favorite sayings is school is community and community is school," Thomas said.
It is also known Spencer Iowa wasn’t spared either. School officials told Local 5 that the Spencer Community School District has a lot of mud to get through now that 18" of water have been drained from one of its buildings. Plus, two basements were flooded up to the ceiling, which took out the electricity and heating in multiple buildings.
School officials said the second half of summer school has been cancelled too as they continue to adapt to the extreme conditions around them.