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St. John's School assesses damage after roof collapse
County warns of possible roof, structural collapses
Monday, Feb. 8, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Contract workers clear snow Monday morning from the undamaged portion of the roof at St. John's School. The roof of another portion of the school collapsed on Saturday.
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Workers continued to clear away debris Monday after a substantial part of the roof at St. John's School in Hollywood collapsed under the weight of snow Saturday afternoon.
The roof at Mechanicsville Post Office on Three Notch Road also partially collapsed, and the post office will be closed until further notice.
The Rev. Ray Schmidt of St. John Regis Catholic Church discovered the collapsed roof at the school just before 4 p.m. Saturday. "I opened the door to the school and saw snow coming down inside," Schmidt said Saturday. No one was in the building at the time.
By Monday, Debbie Dugan, the parish's facilities manager, said plans were still being made for where to set up classrooms for the school's nearly 200 students.
"We've had many offers from many, many people," she said.
Contractors were on the scene clearing snow from the remaining roofs and pulling away trusses and other material from the damaged portion of the school. Dugan said many of the school's computers had been salvaged Sunday, along with desks and other materials from some of the six classrooms that were damaged.
"It's been surreal, for sure," Dugan said.
The school's library and attached computer lab, as well as offices, were also in the 1953 part of the school where the roof collapsed. The older, 1924 section of the school is still intact, as is the adjacent parish center, built in 2007. The collapsed school roof was high pitched and shingled over a two-story edifice, which includes a basement floor.
St. Mary's County government on Monday urged local businesses and citizens to buildings for roof damages, leaks and other structural damages that could lead to more serious issues such as roof collapses.
On Monday morning a building off Pacific Drive in Great Mills suffered a partial collapse. The side housing a function of Lockheed Martin had a cave-in from the snow. Its employees were evacuated as well as J.F. Taylor employees on the other side of the building, according to Tina Shade of J.F. Taylor. There were no injuries, she said.
Other reported building damages include a storage facility on Three Notch Road in Lexington Park.
Measurements of snowfall in St. Mary's reported to the National Weather Service ranged from one foot to 19 inches.
