Power outages, school cancelation, and lethal bursts of winds. America’s deadliest storm since 2005: Hurricane Helene. The tropical storm caused thousands of feet of damage, deaths, and misery throughout the East Coast. Hopeful for a two-day break, North Atlanta students received a notice from APS announcing closed doors on September 26 and 27. While many celebrated the break, others spent it preparing for the uprising floods.
When a level four hurricane is on the horizon, living on a floodplain brings severe concern. The preparation goes like this: stock up on an unnecessary amount of bottles of water, relocate all vehicles out of the floodplain, and get ready for a weather channel extravaganza all night long. Atlanta is often called “the city in the forest” with its rolling hills and towering trees. However, not all students have the luxury of residing on a hill, shielded from leaks, floods, and damage. Sophomore Avery Pines spent her unexpected break to brace for the storm. “My family and I were locked in with large amounts of flooding covering the streets of our neighborhood,” Pines said. “But luckily, only our garage faced damage.”
After two never-ending days of constant downpours, it was finally time to get back on the roads. Many students woke up to their blaring, iPhone alarms and began getting ready for the much-dreaded school day. But Senior Caeley Ellinger rose to a different and more startling wake-up call. As she was peacefully in dreamland, the sounds of wood snapping, branches thumping, and limbs poking through her windows abruptly woke her. “One moment I was dreaming of summer, and the next I was getting poked by sappy branches and dirty leaves!” Ellinger said.
In this day and age, nothing is more terrifying than a place without the internet to make important phone calls, binge a new series, and scroll through social media. When Hurricane Helene struck, many found themselves plunged into the darkness of their homes, cut off from the outside world of entertainment. Sophomore Kenzie Hart found herself in unusual silence that is typically filled with notifications and Netflix. “I wasn’t able to watch my favorite shows for a whole week,” Hart said. “Forget food rotting in my fridge without power, what about my WiFi!?”
Hurricane Helene hit records across the South, but more specifically, how did it affect students’ daily lives at North Atlanta High School? While other students were reveling in the unexpected break, many others faced the realities of damaged homes. For those living in flooded neighborhoods, surrounded by tree debris and power outages, returning to school was overshadowed by concerns about endless repairs.
