Work is currently underway to replace the gymnasium floor at Cloudland High School after it sustained heavy water damage during the flash flooding that hit Roan Mountain on Oct. 24.

According to Carter County Director of Schools Dr. Kevin Ward, water ran down the hill behind the school and into the gymnasium where it seeped under the floor.

On Friday, Ward told the Elizabethton Star the insurance adjuster had visited the school on Monday to view the damage. After the inspection by the insurance adjuster, Ward said the decision was made to replace the gym floor.

“As of Monday, they started tearing the floor out and replacing it,” Ward said.

Ward said the contractors hired by the insurance company estimate the floor replacement will take four to five weeks to fully complete. Once the old floor is removed, the area underneath the floor will need to be dried out fully before the new flooring can be installed.

The replacement project will impact the basketball teams at Cloudland High School. Because Cloudland’s seventh and eighth grades are housed at the high school, the middle school level and high school level Highlander boys and girls basketball teams all use that gymnasium.

“One of the lucky things is they don’t have their first home game until the early part of December,” Ward said. “I don’t know how close we will get to that date with the floor replacement.”

The school system is already working on a contingency plan in case the gymnasium floor is not completed in time for that first home game, Ward said. The home games could be hosted at another county high school, such as Hampton, if the scheduling allows according to Ward.

“The biggest thing they have been working on right now is getting different venues to practice in,” Ward said. Cloudland High School Principal Lisa Benfield has been working with other schools in the system to make arrangements to allow the school’s teams to practice at other facilities.