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School rushes to clean up from flash flood before first day

Water poured into St. Elizabeth's Catholic School when seven inches of rain fell overnight in Granite City.

GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Water poured into the cafeteria of St. Elizabeth’s Catholic School in Granite City Monday morning after seven inches of rain fell overnight.

The first day of school is Wednesday.

“We got the phone call at 6 this morning that the school was starting to flood,” Principal Michelle Williams said.

She rushed to the school to help and said the amount of rain was like a waterfall.

While the classrooms were spared, water flooded “all the way through the cafeteria to the kitchen and back to the bathrooms,” Williams said.

The playground is also covered in water.

Williams spent the summer planning for the new school year, and the team spent last weekend cleaning up the school and the grounds to make sure it’s perfect for the first day.

She said there's a lesson in this flood.

"You never can plan everything, something else is probably going to happen, and you know, just count your blessings,” she said.

Williams said she’s optimistic the first day will happen as scheduled, but they’ll likely have to make adjustments for lunch and recess.

The school is accepting donations to help with the cleanup. Anyone who’d like to help can email Williams directly at Mwilliams@stelizabethgc.org

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