Beaufort County schools cancel games, activities after school Friday post-Helene’s wake

Shortly after noon Friday, the Beaufort County School District sent out an email to families announcing that after school activities and athletic games were canceled Friday night and will be rescheduled at a later date.

Helene, which was downgraded to a tropical storm early Friday morning, rattled Beaufort County, causing power outages at several campuses, the district’s email said.

Candace Bruder, a district spokesperson, wrote that the district is assessing all of the schools across the county.

As the predicted impacts of Helene became clearer, the district announced Thursday morning that the schools’ students would transition to remote learning Friday in wake of storm system that, at the time of the announcement, was a Category 2 hurricane.

Candace Bruder, a district spokesperson, said the changed trajectory and increased winds of the storm led to the decision. The district used e-learning to avoid a make-up day. Bruder said in a news release that the district had many factors to consider when making its decision, including Friday’s projected high-winds that would prohibit the safe travel of school buses.”

Helene made landfall at 11:10 p.m. Thursday about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, Florida, as Category 4 hurricane 140-mph winds and continued to track north.

Overnight Thursday and into Friday morning, a slew of storm damages across Beaufort County were reported to the National Weather Service, which included trees blocking roads, wind gusts up to 60 mph and debris strewn across residential areas.

Over 50,000 Beaufort County electricity customers woke up to no power. By 1:30 p.m. Friday, that number had dropped to over 33,000 customers.

This story was originally published September 27, 2024 at 1:56 PM.

Sarah Haselhorst

The Island Packet

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Sarah Haselhorst, a St. Louis native, writes about climate issues along South Carolina’s coast. Her work is produced with financial support from Journalism Funding Partners. Previously, Sarah spent time reporting in Jackson, Mississippi; Cincinnati, Ohio; and mid-Missouri.