Olive Branch Schools Suffer Worst of Weekend Weather

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. - "I was just so thankful school was not in session."

Principal Mike McCoy looked to the bright side as he took us through what was Olive Branch Middle's auditorium and band classroom.

"There was a window unit, an air conditioner, in this window. We don't know where it's at. We haven't found it yet," he said.

McCoy and his Assistant Principal, Tim Franks, have been scouting the campus since Friday night's twister.

"The press box on the football field was blown onto the baseball field," McCoy said.

"On our 8th grade hall we had 4 classrooms that were damaged," Franks said.

After the initial shock of the storms wore off administrators rolled up their sleeves and came dressed for a different kind of work Saturday morning clearing a path through downed trees and broken glass.

"Every one of these trees were down," said McCoy.

He pointed to the "Grove." It's an outdoor area with up to 100 year old oak trees. The wood from the splintered trees is now being cut into firewood. Another tree between the auditorium and gymnasium fell smack down the middle of both buildings only brushing against an outside wall. The total damage could take weeks to clear out and months to repair.