ETNA -- Despite the dipping temperatures, it feels eerily like summer inside All Saints Elementary School along Dewey Street.
Classrooms are empty, chalkboards wiped clean, hallways quiet. All that remains is the lingering stench of disinfectant.
"There's not a thing left inside," said Principal Pete Ramage. "No desks, no pencils."
The 101-year-old Catholic grade school was washed out by the Sept. 17 flood that dumped 6 inches of rain throughout the region and affected more than 10,000 homes, schools and businesses in Allegheny County. Just a block from Little Pine Creek -- where water rose to 10 feet -- the school suffered some of the worst damage in the borough.
"It's just walls," Ramage said, "and they all have to be replastered."
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is expected to make a ruling on whether to reopen the site, an institution that 100 years ago ran classes from inside the sanctuary.
Rev. Kris Stubna, diocesan secretary of education, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
"Nobody's has made anything known to me," Ramage said. "It still has to be decided."
All Saints students have enrolled temporarily in other area schools while they wait for a determination.
That the school would close under such uncontrollable circumstances would be a blow to Ramage, especially during a year when school leaders had vowed to fight for its survival.
Faced with financial hurdles and dwindling enrollment, leaders refused to wave the white flag and, with less than 50 pupils, opened its doors in August with renewed hope for rebuilding.
Combined classes and staff cuts were disregarded as minor obstacles. Parents were spearheading a corporate fund-raiser, sponsored through the diocese, that targets tax credits from large businesses to offset tuition costs.
In the end, however, it may be Mother Nature that makes the call.
All Saints was one of four schools in the county to be damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. At least 51 public buildings, including municipal offices and fire departments, also were shut down or restricted.
Restoration crews already have swept through the red brick building, leaving the empty shell waiting to be refilled.
"There is nothing definite just yet," Ramage said."There's always hope."
The church fared better
Across the street at All Saints Parish, the news was not as bleak.
The majestic building, with its cathedral ceiling and marble columns, sustained moderate structural damage but will survive.
Water climbed a dozen cement steps leading into the 89-year-old worship site and flooded the new carpeting. It drenched the floorboards, according to Deacon Pat Wood, but left statues and other relics untouched.
Church leaders still are waiting for a damage estimate.
Pews that filled the mammoth room were removed and the green rug ripped up. At least two dozen industrial-size fans are scattered there now.
Mass will not be offered for at least two months.
Instead, some of the 1,200 parishioners have come together in a makeshift sanctuary at the Activities Building next door.
Volunteers have moved some of the church pews over to the Activities Building and bolted them to the floor there.
"They're handling it well," Wood said. "The important thing is to worship together."
Fay Cristina, a church member for 36 years, choked back tears while touring the devastation.
She said the community outpouring over the past month has given parishioners strength to rebuild. A townwide walk, led by religious leaders from the borough's four churches, gave them hope, she said.
"This is a strong faith community," she said. "The outpouring has been fantastic."
