Powerful El Niño-fueled storms caused thousands of dollars in damage to a small school district east of San Diego.
All eight schools in the Dehesa School District will reopen Tuesday after a series of storms left classrooms filled with mud and flooded water.
"It was horrifying," said Dehesa Superintendent Nancy Hauer. "I can say I've been here for 15 years and I've never seen anything like this at our school."
An 8-inch storm drain burst Thursday as a result of heavy rain sending a foot of mud and silt from a hillside into Dehesa Elementary School.
Two classrooms were flooded wall-to-wall with water. Right outside the classrooms, a foot of thick mud made it impossible to get inside.
The 199 students at the K-8 school have not been in class since Thursday.
"The safety of our students is first and foremost, so unfortunately we've had to be closed," Hauer said.
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The timing could not have been worse: teachers were planning on moving into a new building on campus this past Saturday, but that move has now been delayed.
"I'm starting to become a little less numb. It's obviously been heart-wrenching. We were so close to moving into our new building. Anytime students are displaced its not the situation you want to be in," Hauer said.
The cost so far to replace the drain and help fix the damage is currently at $8,500, but the total cost will be much higher and is expected to be covered by insurance.
Hauer said she is waiting to hear back from the state, as there is a possibility the lost days will have to be made up at the end of the year.
Classes were initially canceled on Tuesday but repairs made it possible to reopen the school to students, officials said.
All other school districts are operating according to their regular schedules.
