Fair Grove, Mo., elementary school in session despite storm damage

FAIR GROVE, Mo. -- Even though powerful winds blew the 6-month-old roof off a southwest Missouri school, classes are being held anyway.

Storm winds roared through the area at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday, lifting the roof off Fair Grove Elementary and blowing pieces of it onto nearby trailers. The National Weather Service says the damage was caused by straight line winds of 85 mph.

Volunteers from the area joined school staffers restoring the damaged school to a condition allowing classes Monday. A temporary roof was put into place, while crews begin work on a permanent replacement.

Superintendent John Link said some students will attend class in the library for as long as a month.

Greene County Emergency Management director Ryan Nicholls said the school sustained the only significant damage in the county.