Flooding delays start of Moses Lake Christian Academy

MOSES LAKE — The cold weather froze pipes last Friday at Moses Lake Christian Academy, causing them to burst and flood a hallway and delaying the start of elementary school classes for at least a week.

“Due to significant flooding in our elementary building on Friday we have made the decision to delay the start of school for preschool - 6th grade students,” read a message from MLCA Director Stephanie Voigt. “Our goal is to get students back into classrooms as soon as possible but our contractors are saying they might need the entire week to complete their work.”

However, Voigt’s message said parents should expect to make childcare arrangements for the entire week.

Voigt told the Columbia Basin Herald that the flooding happened on Friday and was fairly quickly contained.

“It was in the hallway, primarily. The water moved into a couple of classrooms, but we were able to contain it,” she said.

“I don’t think that (the damage) will be really extensive,” Voigt added. “A huge team came out and soaked up all the water, and we have ServiceMaster there, and they do a tremendous job.”

Right now, the academy has got blowers working to dry both the hallway and the affected classrooms, and Voigt said they hope to get the elementary side of the school open before the end of the week.

“We have just been really super blessed to have help, we were very fortunate to have so much help and support,” she said.

As for the cost, Voigt did not know at this point what the clean up and repair bill will come to.

“I have no idea what it will cost,” she said. “We’re not there yet. We’re working with our insurance company to figure that out.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.