Kalwall Takes on Hurricanes Katrina & Rita
In the mid 1990s, Dr. Larry Drawdy, then Superintendent of Education for Biloxi, Mississippi, discovered the features and benefits of Kalwall. By August of 2005, Biloxi was home to 7 elementary schools (2 of them just a year old), 2 junior high schools and 1 senior high school, and all 10 schools (plus the Administration Building) extensively utilized Kalwall as Wall Panels, Windows and Skylights. Then Hurricane Katrina paid a visit. By the time Hurricane Rita departed a month later, much of the city was destroyed but the Kalwall panels helped many of the schools survive. Biloxi High School was designated a shelter before the storms hit, and after Katrina, the Biloxi Middle School was in such good condition that it was pressed into service as a Red Cross Shelter.
The school system's Administration Building is less than two blocks from the beach and sustained no damage whatsoever – and stayed completely dry inside. The East Biloxi Community Center was constructed of brick and Kalwall panels. On one wall, part of the brick blew away, but the Kalwall Wall Panel stayed in place.
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| The city placed so much confidence in the structure of the new, AIA award-winning Biloxi High School that it was designed as a storm shelter even before the Category 5 hurricanes made landfall. The high school sustained no damage during either Hurricane Katrina or Rita. |
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| Kalwall Wall Panels in Biloxi High School fill classrooms with natural daylight, and have withstood walls of water and up to 175 mph winds in September – with no damage. |
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| One of the newest schools, Gorenflo, lost a major portion of its roof, resulting in 9 feet of water inside the building. The Kalwall panels held fast and did not allow any water to enter the building. Not a single Kalwall panel above the 9-foot watermark sustained any damage or had to be replaced. The panels under water suffered no structural damage; in fact, some had to be breached in order to allow water out. After the water was released, the building's contents were bulldozed onto the lawn and any damaged panels were easily replaced. |
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For more information, contact:
Bruce Keller
Kalwall Corporation 603-627-3861 (800-258-9777 N. America)
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