Rockport was one of the hardest hit cities in Texas when Hurricane Harvey drenched the state during the last week in August. The storm created record rainfall and unparalleled flooding throughout the Texas coast, creating an urgent need for restroom rentals as electricity and plumbing services went out around the state. The town of Rockport took the brunt of Harvey’s landfall, standing directly in the storm’s path and sustaining winds upwards of 130 miles per hour.
Early reports on social media that Rockport-Fulton High School were thankfully incorrect. However, all the buildings in the Aransas County Independent School District did sustain significant damage. The high school was the worst-damaged, with sections of the roof having collapsed during the storm, and entire walls having been stripped away from the school’s gymnasium. Nearby Rockport-Fulton Middle School also suffered significant structural damage.
The eye of Hurricane Harvey passed directly over Rockport a second time as the storm left the area. In the aftermath of the storm, Rockport’s mayor estimated that about one-third of the town had been destroyed. Shortly after, Aransas County ISD Superintendent Joseph Patek announced that all ACISD schools would be closed indefinitely.
Overcoming Adversity in Aransas County
Since the clean-up process began in early September, ACISD has been exceeding estimates and expectations to get their facilities back up and running. Early statements from the district provided no timeline for schools to reopen. On August 30th, the district advised all families who had the ability to do so to enroll their students in classes in other districts – where they were staying temporarily or wherever they had family in Texas.
A leadership team was appointed to begin evaluating damages across the district, prioritizing repairs, and making recommendations for the allocation of available funds. Their work has been very effective, and repairs have consistently been completed ahead of schedule. ACISD spokeswoman Bridget Johnson characterized the recovery effort as “steadily fierce.”
“The leadership team has been cautious about the expectations,” Johnson told the Corpus Christi Caller Times. We wanted to remain realistic and provide the most accurate updates to make decisions for families.”
A Very Special Back-to-School Celebration
Many in the Rockport community were astonished when the ACISD announced that all students would be able to return to school on Wednesday, October 11th. Considering the extent of the damage and the number of campuses that required repairs – this is an unbelievable turn-around for the district to reopen its doors.
District staff returned to work on October 9th to begin preparing for their belated back-to-school event. Because of the sizeable migrations into and out of Aransas County after the hurricane, all students were required to re-register with the district. And as a gesture of support to families who were managing their own repairs at home – the district announced that all students who had been enrolled prior to the hurricane would receive free breakfast and lunch for the entire school year.
One Rockport parent praised the district for their quick response, saying, “This is everything. All week we’ve been talking about this. We’ve had the backpack ready. You don’t realize how much they need this. We need this normalcy.”
Resourceful Planning with Temporary Classrooms and Portable Restroom Rentals
While the community is overwhelmingly happy that school is back in session, it would be an overstatement to say that all repairs are complete. To get doors open in just over 40 days, the district had to employ some creative and resourceful solutions.
A few of the district’s campuses have been temporarily combined at one location – allowing classes to resume while repairs are still ongoing. At the campuses that are currently open, capacity has been expanded by teaching some classes in temporary mobile classrooms. One of the last remaining problems was to provide enough restroom facilities for the centralized schools.
When we got the call from ACISD officials to discuss some options for adding capacity with portable restroom rentals, we quickly assured them that they would be able to meet their needs without issue from our existing inventory of portable restroom rentals. The team here at PRT were all exceptionally proud that our units would get to play a part in the district’s remarkable comeback.
Supporting Schools with High-Capacity and ADA-Compliant Restroom Rentals
The first order of business we discussed with the district was the need for accessible, ADA-compliant restrooms to be located near the temporary classrooms. We walked their representatives through our inventory of ADA-compliant restroom rentals and found a perfect fit in our Comfort Series ADA+2 Station floorplan. This unit has an ADA-compliant suite that meets or exceeds all ADA accessibility requirements, and allows a full 360-degree turning radius for a wheelchair.
To meet the high traffic demands of breaking classrooms, ACISD also asked about restroom rentals with high-capacity floorplans. After we estimated the capacity requirements and considered some options, we arrived at a 9/10 station unit that would easily accommodate the needs of the school. Our high-capacity units are built to commercial standards to withstand the demands of heavy foot traffic, with high-capacity tanks to keep maintenance to a minimum.
With an extensive inventory of restroom rentals that span the spectrum from commercial-grade to high-end luxury, PRT can provide restroom rentals for almost any venue or event. We have a wide range of financing options that includes long-term restroom rentals and our popular lease-to-own program. If you have a requirement for additional restroom capacity to satisfy local regulations, ADA-compliance, or a bus full of busy school children – get in touch with PRT today at (877) 600-8645. One of our trained representatives will help you find the perfect unit to match your needs and find a financing option that works for your budget.
