GREENSBURG - Three years ago, Hurricane Ida devastated Greensburg in St. Helena Parish. On top of damaging homes, the winds and water destroyed St. Helena College and Career Academy’s gymnasium floor. In 2024, repairs are finally on the way for the school.

St. Helena College and Career Academy has the only gym floor in the parish accredited by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. It’s where a lot of kids in the parish learn to shoot hoops and practice drills ahead of basketball season.

When Ida hit in 2021, the school’s team was prepping for the basketball season. The school had replaced the gym's roof before the storm but water flowed in under doors and walls.

After the hurricane passed, the school sat for 13 days without power and water seeped into the wood gymnasium floor. Edward Galmon with St. Helena Parish Schools says while the water sat in the heat, the gym floor buckled.

“We were running the units. We had fans. We had dehumidifiers,” Galmon said. “We worked very hard to get the floor so we could play basketball again here at home.”

The floor was temporarily replaced in patches. Galmon says the patch job led to discoloration and some areas of wood not matching up, but the team could still play.

“There’s nothing like having your own and having that home court feel for the kids,” Galmon said.

He says totally rebuilding the floors is estimated to cost about $130,000.

Galmon says construction crews will start working next week. He says the clean-up and rebuilding should take six to eight weeks, just in time for the start of the school year.