SEATTLE — People around Western Washington are cleaning up Wednesday after a series of thunderstorms hammered the region the night before.
The rain lifted iron covers off manholes in Belltown, turned manholes into geysers in Capitol Hill and flooded a Seattle school.
Wednesday was supposed to be the first day of class at Fairview Christian School in Seattle's Maple Leaf neighborhood, but instead, students will stay home and school officials will try to clean up a big mess left behind by flooding toilets, sinks and drains.
The school’s principal, Sharilee West, arrived to ensure no parents or students showed up for the first day of school.
The Seattle Fire Department said after the flooding, the school is dealing with a health and safety hazard, so a deep clean is needed.
Not only did storm water come bursting out of drains, sinks and toilets, sewer water did as well.
In seconds, water on the floor was a half-foot deep.
The sinks, the floors and all the carpeting in the 107-year-old school building were drenched in foul-smelling water.
Just as the storm moved in Tuesday, the principal was having parent-teacher conferences.
"I looked out and it looked like we were in Southeast Asia with the monsoons. It was awful," said West.
Classes are canceled until the school can get the mess cleaned up and the carpets replaced.
The goal is to have school open on Thursday.
Want to talk about the news of the day? Watch free streaming video on the KIRO 7 mobile app and iPad app, and join us here on Facebook.
KIRO
