Downed power lines were another big challenge for local first responders and maintenance crews, as seen on this Buncombe County road near Asheville, N.C.
(PHOTO COURTESY OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS)
Once passage to the towers was re-established, the team began fueling diesel generators on the 18 emer- gency management communication towers. “They couldn’t give us the keys to the locks because
nobody in the room knew who had the keys, so we were cutting locks off of these generators supporting diesel fuel the best we could through Oct. 11,” said Stowe. “Our job was to be behind the scenes providing that
fuel support, doing what we do and doing it well. We filled cell phone towers, generators, equipment, refriger- ator trucks. We filled whatever was close to us as fast as we could when we could,” he added. Along with the fuel support, two school buses were sta-
tioned at different shelters to run people from one point to another and taking people to medical appointments. “I had two school bus drivers who ran continuously for the next three weeks out of shelters providing transpor- tation needs to medically fragile folks. We moved all of our veterans from one of our veterans’ quarters that got flooded out to an area hotel,” says Stowe. Stowe assigned that job to two drivers who were re-
tired police officers with experience in handling difficult situations. At one point, Stowe brought his camper to the office
parking lot. “It was easier for me to just go out there and sleep than try to go home,” he noted. Seven schools sustained structural damage. Damage to the school bus fleet and the buildings was minimal, Stowe says.
42 School Transportation News • JANUARY 2025
“The big preventive item from us reopening was po- table water,” said Stowe. “We all learned quickly we can run school without internet, we can run school without power, but you really can’t run school without water.” Potable water access was recently restored, he added. Despite the logistical challenges, the district’s school buses and facilities sustained minimal damage. Howev- er, numerous washed-out roads, landslides and bridge failures forced significant route adjustments. “We spent a lot of our time rerouting,” Stowe said. “I
made the rule that a road was deemed to be closed if the bus had to venture out of its assigned lane because of debris in the road. The bulk of our roads are two lanes and very curvy. There was shoulder damage from water runoff that would push the bus into oncoming traffic.” Stowe said the district was running 90 percent of its
pre-Helene routes up until the Christmas break. Others in significantly damaged areas will not return anytime soon, he added. Less than two weeks after Helene made landfall on the
Florida Gulf Coast, Hurricane Milton tested the resilience of school districts in the area. Sarasota County Schools used 11 public schools as evacuation centers. While these buildings avoided flood damage, many suffered wind damage, particularly to roofs and gutters. Vegetative debris posed additional challenges, with cleanup efforts extending weeks beyond the storm’s landfall. A mixture of school buses and local municipality-managed transportation was available to transport citizens in need.
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