Durham Schools Respond After Holding Classes Amid Flooding, Tornado Warning

Durham Public Schools have defended their decision to hold classes on Sept. 17 amid flooding from Hurricane Florence and a tornado warning. Classes were also held in Orange County.

Florence, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression, has been dumping rain across North Carolina to the extent that officials warned people not to enter the state.

But officials in Durham chose to hold classes on Sept. 17. Later in the day, they released a statement saying that the decision had been reached after speaking with emergency management officials and after reviewing the weather beginning at 3:30 a.m.

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“We had every indication that today would be a good day to open schools,” the district said in a statement. “When weather advisories were issued and conditions began to deteriorate, buses were already en route to school.”

Officials said the safest choice at that point was to take the students in the buses to the school, noting: “Students that have arrived at our schools are safe and sound.”

Anyone who didn’t make it will not be counted as absent.

“Although we made the best decision we could with the information we had this morning, we are sorry to our families and staff for the difficulties that came from our decision to open school,” district spokesman Chip Suddeth added in a statement obtained by WRAL.

Other districts in the area, including Wake County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City, canceled classes on Sept. 17. Orange County ended up dismissing students two hours early and canceling all after-school activities, as did Durham, the district said in a statement.

“We apologize for any safety issues this may have caused, in addition to the stress and inconvenience,” Orange County School officials said in the Facebook post.

On its website, Durham Schools said schools would be open again on Sept. 18 but would have a two-hour delay, and Orange County said the same.

Tornado Warning and Flooding

A tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service at 7:37 a.m., cleared in some areas about 15 minutes later, and reissued at 8:17 a.m. before being canceled for good around 30 minutes later. The tornado and flooding prompted classes for Duke University in Durham to be canceled.

“Nature threw us a curve ball this morning and I’m sorry for those of you who were already on your way to classes (or in class) when the cancellation text came around,” Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, wrote in an email to students obtained by The Duke Chronicle.

Torrential rain from Hurricane Florence caused a number of creeks and rivers to overflow in the area, including Mud Creek, reported The News & Observer.

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Mud Creek flows under Pickett Road, which was flooded in some sections by the overflow.

Firefighters were dispatched to the road at around 9:30 a.m. after a report of a school bus with elementary school students being stuck in the flooding. The students were ultimately picked up by school staff, though it’s unclear what happened to the bus.

In another incident, an Orange County bus drove through a flooded section of N.C. 10 as it transported students to school.

From NTD.tv