Fernandina Beach preschool flooded amid record high rainfall in Nassau County

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — For Donna Ferreira, the 40 kids and students enrolled at her Seaside Learning Academy mean everything.

However, after Ferreira’s school was flooded with water Thursday night amid the continued unprecedented rainfall in Fernandina Beach, classes were canceled and kids were unable to enter the building.

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“I’m really thinking [it will be a] couple weeks, which is scary,” Ferreira told Action News Jax Friday. “I’d love to keep these ladies on the payroll. So, ya, I think it’ll probably be a couple weeks.”

To make matters worse, Ferreira told Action News Jax she doesn’t have flood insurance because it’s no longer required after the school was taken out of being in a flood zone several years ago. Ferreira said a lot of the carpets and flooring will likely have to be replaced.

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“I mean at this point, I’ll probably have to pull out of my retirement fund to cover a lot of this,” Ferreira said. “But honestly at this point, I’m invested not just as far as my business goes, but as far as our community goes.”

Nonetheless, with the help of Seaside Learning Academy’s teachers and some kind-hearted neighbors, much of the water has been cleared out and Ferreira said Friday morning she hopes to reopen the school and bounce back in full, just not without dipping into some of those retirement savings.

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