Cracks in the walls of a school in Haifa caused great panic

(haipo) - Parents and students at the 5th Municipal High School in the center of Carmel were very frightened after they discovered that cracks had formed in the walls of the school building. The concern is even greater, of course, following the great earthquake that occurred in Turkey and Syria, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

The school management invited an expert from the municipality who inspected the cracks and determined that there is no risk for those staying in the building. At the same time, work is being done to close the cracks.

"Following the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, I was exposed to a report by the municipality of Haifa which says that many of the city's students are in danger, since the largest schools in Haifa will not survive earthquakes and do not meet the necessary standards," says the mother of one of the school's students. "Since the report in 2013, no action has been taken to correct the situation, and following the recent earthquakes, we are witnessing the widening of the cracks in the walls in the various classrooms at the XNUMXth City School."

"We parents are very worried, because if in a relatively mild earthquake the cracks in the school walls widen, what will happen in a stronger earthquake, such as the one that occurred in Turkey? That is why we strongly request a plan with timetables to correct the situation!"

"The role of an expansion joint is to receive loads from ground movements and leave the building intact"

It should be noted that the director of the project planning and supervision unit in the construction department of the Haifa municipality, engineer Igor Bezilianski, sent an email to the school's principal, Hagit Levy, in which he explains the difficulty in the school building.

"Continuing to the email, first I would like to explain the nature of the existence and function of the expansion seam that exists in the second wing of the Urban High School. In the Urban High School there are several expansion seams between models of buildings. The seam is a constructive element that has been made and has existed since the building's construction and its role is to receive loads of ground movements and leave the building intact. I emphasize that this is a detail of a building that has always existed and not something that was created due to an earthquake or other natural phenomenon. This classroom is safe and there is no fear in using it."

School principal Hagit Levy: 'There is no obstacle to learning and teaching'

The principal of the school, Hagit Levy, sent a message to the parents, in which she explains things and gives them a clear message that there is no need to worry:
"After an inspection conducted yesterday, Monday 13/02/23, by the director of the Project Planning and Supervision Unit, Public Construction Division, Haifa Municipality, engineer Igor Beziliansky, it was made clear to us beyond any doubt that there is no obstacle to study and teach in classroom 213!
Mr. Bezilianski explained that there is an expansion seam of the building, which apparently, due to an earthquake, has undergone a change on an aesthetic level only.
There is no damage to the stability of the building and there is no danger to those staying inside."

'A mapping of the school buildings was conducted'

Ofer Green, chairman of the local parents' committee - Haifa leadership:
"Mapping of the schools was carried out and renovation of buildings urgently by the municipality, because of the fear of earthquakes. The results of the mapping went to the Ministry of Education, because we need budgeting from the Ministry of Education for the benefit of those buildings that require renovation. On 20/02/23 we are expected to hold a meeting on this issue with the mayor, to see how we can promote this issue and other issues."

Practice in schools following the disaster in Turkey

We will remind you that on Sunday, 12/02/23, a refresher exercise was held in the city's schools to deal with earthquakes. During the activity, the educational staff and students practiced evacuation from the classrooms to open areas determined by the emergency coordinators and security officers of the educational institutions.

130 earthquake warning systems have been installed over the past few years with funding from the Ministry of Education in schools in Haifa. The system is connected to a network of seismological detectors ("seismological fence") deployed along the expected foci of occurrence in the Syrian-African fault and the Yegor fault.

The system will activate the school warning systems and allow early evacuation of the students to open areas. This is as a supplemental warning measure to the Homeland Command's "Thrua" system, which will warn of an earthquake through the command's app and horn system.

The state auditor inspected the schools in the city

Over the past few years, the State Comptroller has referred several times to the risk of earthquakes in our region, and each time he noted the sensitivity of the disaster-prone region. In 2013, a specific tour was conducted for schools in the city by all the parties involved, including the municipality, the Ministry of Education and experts on earthquakes. In the summary of the inspection, they determined that there are 4 schools that should start strengthening their structures, before the other schools: Kiryat Haim High School, Urban C, Urban E and Urban A. In addition, a decision was made in light of the condition of these four schools, to start strengthening Urban School C in Neve Shaanan, and this was indeed done.

The municipality: 'The cracks will be repaired as soon as possible'

The Haifa Municipality stated in response that the building was inspected by a structural engineer who determined that the building is safe for use and there is no danger. Yes, the cracks will be repaired as soon as possible.