Many North Carolina students return to class for first time since Helene

Valle Crucis, North Carolina — In nan hills of Watauga County successful occidental North Carolina, nan thrust for Valle Crucis Elementary School students was filled pinch excitement Friday. They were among respective 1000 North Carolina students who returned to schoolhouse for nan first clip since Hurricane Helene tore done portions of nan authorities astir a period ago, carving a way of destruction.  

"I was worried astir them because of nan hurricane," 1 Valle Crucis student said of his chap classmates. "And I was ace happy, super-duper happy to spot them." 

Helene filled Valle Crucis Elementary, a K-8 school, pinch 4 feet of muddy h2o and swamped nan schoolhouse buses parked extracurricular nan school. As a result, classes are being temporarily held astatine an aged convention halfway located astir a mile from nan damaged school.

"Students, module and families person been done trauma," said Watauga County Schools Superintendent Leslie Alexander.  "Getting kids backmost is nan first measurement to normalcy, but we person to recognize that group person been done a lot."

When Helene hit, 459 schools successful 28 North Carolina districts were affected. Schools successful 5 of those districts stay closed. Some whitethorn not unfastened until early November.

Many students are still carrying a dense intelligence load, nan symptom of losing a loved 1 aliases their home, aliases successful immoderate cases, both. At slightest 98 group were killed by Helene successful North Carolina, according to numbers compiled by CBS News, and nan hurricane was responsible for astatine slightest 217 deaths crossed six states.

On Friday, other counselors were connected manus astatine Watauga County schools for immoderate unit and students who wanted to talk.

"For nan first mates weeks, I started to consciousness worry from not seeing anyone, truthful it was really refreshing erstwhile I heard that this week we were going backmost to school," 12-year-old Valle Crucis student Georgia said. 

Georgia was pinch her parents, James and Heather, erstwhile their location began to flood and their organization was washed away.

"When nan rainfall stopped and we went and walked around," Heather said of her daughter. "She said, 'I'm not learning academically correct now, but I'm learning a batch astir survival.'" 

In:
• North Carolina
• Hurricane