DOVER, Del. --- Charisse Stanley said it was the longest ten seconds of her life.
"We got in the doorway and watched the roof lift off as the tornado went over. It was pretty terrifying, actually," said Stanley, who is the chief custodian at William Henry Middle School.
Stanley posted a video of the aftermath of tornadic activity in the Dover area that ripped off sections of the school's roof and causing serious damage to a building that was condemned later in the day by the City of Dover.
Capital School District Interim Superintendent Sylvia Henderson said on Wednesday William Henry Middle School is no longer believed to be a "total loss" after being assessed by the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, though significant and costly repairs will be needed.
"Most importantly we still have a building that standing but we can't replace human lives and we are just so fortunate that no one was hurt," she said.
Inside the school, debris and puddles are prevalent throughout the hallways around the entrance to the building. Sunlight could be seen projecting onto the floor, peering through places where the roof had been ripped away.
"It's surreal," remarked Ade Kuforiji, the Capital School District's interim assistant superintendent.
The condemnation of the building will likely complicate the reopening process for the Capital School District, which could potentially begin welcoming students back for classes under a combination of in-person and remote instruction, as allowed by Gov. John Carney (D) this week.
A hallway at William Henry Middle School on Wednesday.
The Capital School Board of Education on Thursday will likely look at the issue of when classes will resume and may yet consider a partial return for students to school buildings, though Henderson acknowledged students are unlikely to return to William Henry Middle School for some time.
"It complicates it, but we are a district that is dedicated to our school and to our staff and we're going to continue to work plans so that we do our jobs and educate children," she said.
Kuforiji said the timeline and plans to fix the building have yet to be determined.
"Once the insurance coverage office gets back to us, they'll have a blueprint of what we need to do on the next steps to get back to recovery," he said.
Named after a 1902 graduate who became the first Black physician to practice in southern Delaware, William Henry Middle School was built in 1967. It is set to be replaced by one of two new middle schools planned for construction by the Capital School District, though it will become the new home to the Kent County ILC and Kent County Community School.