Storms Damage Oklahoma Middle School's Facilities

Powerful storms raged across central Oklahoma on Monday evening, leaving a trail of destruction that damaged a middle school’s athletic facilities.

TV station KFOR reports that Choctaw Middle School’s gymnasium had its roof torn off by powerful winds. The roof was tossed onto the school’s football field, which will have to close just ahead of the scheduled start of the season.

Choctaw-Nicoma Park Public Schools Superintendent Jim McCharen told KFOR that the middle school’s football team will likely be temporarily displaced.

“We have a practice field at the high school they can use so we’ll probably bus the kids over to practice and assess the damage and see if we have to reschedule games at the high school field or possibly some other facility,” McCharen said.

The football field will need to be closely inspected for small debris before students are allowed back on it. 

The portion of the gym roof that was torn off was the only major damage across the district’s nine schools. Damage to the gym’s floor was reportedly minimal, though the remaining roof structure is leaking and will need to be repaired. The school will have to reschedule P.E. classes for the time being. 

The school hopes that insurance will cover the cost of repairs.