How School Cleaning Teams Prepare for Flood Threats

Climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense, according to both climate scientists and U.S. government data. In 2024 alone, there were 27 confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each in the United States, which is three times the average number of such events that occurred between 1980-2024.

Flooding events are extreme weather scenarios that are happening more frequently and across a larger swath of the United States. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, recent research indicates that hot, wet conditions will become increasingly prevalent in the coming years, which is an issue. Heatwaves that occur before heavy rain will dry out soil, making it more difficult for the ground to absorb water during rainfall and flooding more likely.

In addition, The 3rd National Risk Assessment conducted by the First Street Foundation finds that over the course of the next 30 years, significant flooding risks will emerge along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The same reports show that the Northwest will also be threatened by excess flooding.

When excess water infiltrates a community, no facility is safe, including schools. The cleaning and maintenance professionals inside these educational institutions must be prepared for various extreme weather events—flooding specifically. Only then can they effectively respond to weather threats, minimize building damage, and maintain continuity of operations as much as possible. Participants in the Healthy Green Schools & Colleges Program are given the tools to take a proactive approach to policy and procedure development that can be applied when preparing for and managing extreme weather events that impact their school district or university.

Successful Case Study

In mid-December 2025, the Pacific Northwest experienced historic rainfall that caused between $40 and $50 million in road damage alone. The region, which is home to 5.8 million people and the Issaquah School District 411 was heavily damaged. But, according to Julius Carter, Director of Facility Services for Issaquah School District 411, facilities and grounds crews were on alert, prepared, and ready for action should the flooding have impacted their buildings.

“Thankfully, our school district was spared from any significant facility damage,” says Carter. “We have a low-lying preschool academy and elementary school that is situated next to Issaquah Creek, which would have been flooded if the level of that creek rose another few inches. Our facilities and grounds crews were on-call 24/7, monitoring creek levels and placing sandbags around those facilities."

Everyone has a role to play in preparing for a disaster, especially within a school district, and that level of preparation did not happen by accident. It was the result of intentional planning, advanced decision-making, and a willingness to act early and before conditions deteriorated. For facility cleaning leaders, having policies, plans, and taking preventative steps when conditions are still manageable is critical to effectively responding to all types of extreme weather events.

“My biggest takeaway from this event was to always be prepared for the worst,” Carter recalls. “We decided to sandbag around our preschool perimeter ahead of the rain, just in case. While this was ultimately not needed, the work was done in much better conditions and was accomplished faster and safer in that way.”

Being proactive made a demonstrable difference operationally and organizationally. Preparing in advance allowed work to be completed more safely and efficiently, reduced uncertainty during the storm, and reassured school district leadership and the broader community that risks were being taken seriously and actively managed.

“It brought peace of mind to the district leadership and community that we were prepared, and it limited panicked phone calls and texts because [our Facilities Team] communicated in advance what we were doing and shared pictures and videos of the work being done,” says Carter.

Issaquah School District 411’s preparation was also informed by past flooding events that highlighted vulnerabilities and emphasized the importance of having emergency policies and protocols in place. Rather than starting from scratch, the district was able to draw on experience and established procedures, defined roles, and response strategies when conditions escalated.

For school facility and cleaning directors who have not yet faced a major flooding event or who want to strengthen their existing protocols, consult the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center’s guide, Resources on Preparing for Floods at Education Agencies, to get started.

Sara Porter has worked with Healthy Schools Campaign for more than 15 years. She currently serves as director of Healthy Green Schools & Colleges, a program that helps K12 and higher education institutions identify and implement low- and no-cost measures that improve indoor air quality, among other initiatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from DePaul University.