Bad Snow Storm Uproots Trees

Our school was pounded with a very tough snow storm during the night of Sunday December 12, 2010. It was snowing continuously, and strong sudden gusts of wind that we never experienced before, were pounding the area. Although we heard the sound of cracking wood during the night, we did not expect the sight we saw on Monday morning. Six huge trees that are forty to fifty years old were uprooted and smashed to the ground near the girls' boarding homes. Another huge tree of similar age had the same fate near the carpentry workshop. There were broken branches everywhere, and the damage to all our trees was huge. We rejoiced to see the hand of God in protecting our school from the enormous damage that those fallen trees could have inflicted due to their enormous size and weight. The director's car, the girls boarding homes, and the carpentry workshop escaped damage apart from the few broken panes of glass and some minor damage to electric and telephone cables. The sight that morning was a great encouragement, because God was showing us his wonderful care in protecting Schneller school. This was seen in the snow storm but its implications are to all the challenges that we are currently facing. There was not much we could do the first few days after the storm, but eventually as the snow melted, our maintenance team, assisted by some of our staff, was able to gradually remove the fallen trees and branch. Staff and students from our electrical workshop gradually fixed the broken cables. We did end up with a lot of wood which we sawed to the right measurements that will enable us to make nice wooden play-items for our playgrounds. We praise God for his wonderful protection and care, and we also thank all our dedicated staff who worked tirelessly during the storm to look after our children. We would like to commend and thank Miss Souad Boutros who walked in snow that was half-a-meter deep, all the way form her house in Khirbet to be with her children.