Report from the flood zone:

The Puyallup School District is catching its breath today after a busy night moving buses, sandbagging schools and keeping a watch over lowland district buildings amid changing flood conditions.

Drivers moved heavy equipment and 185 buses from the district's downtown bus lot to higher ground at its South Hill transportation center, district spokeswoman Karen Hansen said.

Other workers placed sandbags around schools in the recommended evacuation zones. That included Karshner, Stewart and Shaw Road elementary schools and Riverside Elementary, which no longer is used as a school.

The efforts may have helped buffet schools against overflowing rivers. So far staff have found only minor damage to buildings.

But the district will have extra costs to pay the staff who worked overtime to do the driving and bagging. Administrators will be figuring he tab.

Meanwhile, schools are closed today but the district plans to open them Friday.

If there's no water around your kids' school and you're wondering why the district decided to close them all, here are a few of the factors officials cite.

Last night, every section of the district had at least some roads closed. It wasn't known how bad conditions would be today or whether all staff and substitutes could reach schools. Plus, there were already those three schools in the recommended evacuation zone.

"We were just really lucky the rivers didn't breach the levees as was originally predicted," Hansen said.

The district is still deciding when to make up today's lost school day.

It's the fourth lost day of school, counting the three due to snow and ice last month, Hansen said. Though the school calendar lists June 17, 18, and 19 as possible make-up days, administrators will work with employee unions to set the exact days.

Here’s an update from the Puyallup Schools Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that was sent this morning.

This is an update from Puyallup Schools Emergency Operations Center (EOC) regarding the flooding of the Puyallup River and how it is affecting our community and schools.

Thank you for your patience during this emergency. As always, the safety of our students and staff was the primary consideration in the decision to close schools today and to delay the arrival of 12-month employees. Although the emergency flooding was localized, it was nevertheless severe in those areas. For the first time in recent history, we received orders from Pierce County EOC and City of Puyallup EOC to evacuate three areas within the school district boundaries.

There is good news: The river did not breach its levees as projected by Pierce County and the City of Puyallup EOCs. It crested 6 inches below the levee just after midnight (rather than the predicted 4-6 feet over the levee which was expected at 10 am today). However, it was the seventh highest water level ever recorded for the Puyallup River.

Assessment reports from Facilities are indicating minimal damage to our schools--mainly roof leaks and standing water in several schools. In addition, the City of Puyallup EOC has notified us that evacuees in the City of Puyallup may now return to their homes although there are road closures in the Pioneer Way E and River Road areas. Tune in to your local news station for specific road closures.

Based on national and local weather forecasts at this time, we expect schools to be on normal schedule on Friday, January 9, 2009. Any updates will be posted on the District Web site and will be communicated through radio and television stations.

(Submitted by News Tribune staff writer Debby Abe)