MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) We're getting our first look at the damage inside the walls of Murphy High School, and so are the students. Thursday, the kids were able to return one grade at a time to pick up belongings left behind before the storm.
The halls were eerie, lit by industrial lights, echoing with machinery, and filled with kids looking for their things.
"We have just movies and our books and bookbags," said senior Katie Mims. "We came back to pick all that up, but it wasn't here."
Mims searched what used to be known as the Panther room with her friend Katie Weeks. There was no sign of the things they'd left on shelves and in cubbies before the storm.
"I was here the last day of school taking a test," Weeks said, "and I had no clue that would be the last time I'd ever be here."
It's something that's hitting a lot of the seniors. They're the first group allowed back inside. Some of their last memories here will be of debris and caution tape.
"I don't get to walk down the halls again as a student, so that's kind of messing me up," said senior Ashley Burke.
"There's a lot of sadness," said Coach Nancy Shoquist. "I mean, you come down the halls and you see the destruction, and it's pretty unreal."
Shoquist was on hand Thursday managing the master list of locker combinations. She's happy to help, she just never imagined it would be like this.
"You can't prepare for this, but you have to kind of jump onto that mode of action," she said. "It'll all get done."
The kids will start heading back to class at Clark-Shaw Magnet School grade by grade on Monday, starting with the seniors.
