September 30, 2024
Andrew Nelles/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Girard College is working with North Carolina officials to get some of its high school students and staff out of Asheville. The group is stuck in the city after Hurricane Helene flooded the area. This photo shows a car on a flooded road in the city's River Arts District on Monday.
Hurricane Helene has stranded a teacher and 31 students from Girard College at a camp in Asheville, North Carolina.
The boarding school group was participating in an Outward Bound program Thursday when the Category 4 storm made landfall in the southeastern U.S., spurring massive flooding in North Carolina. The ninth grade students, as well as a teacher and two residential advisors, are now "temporarily unable to return" to Philadelphia due to damaged roads, Girard College President David Hardy said in a statement.
"All students and adults are safe and are being cared for while Outward Bound works with local and state officials to clear the roads that provide access to the camp, which is located in Asheville, N.C.," he said. "We are in constant communication with the program, and we have been assured that our children will be transported back to Philadelphia as soon as road and weather conditions permit safe travel."
Elena Perri, director of marketing and brand communications for the school, said the students have cell service at the camp. They have been in touch with their families via Zoom, she said, and have adequate food and water.
The group departed Philadelphia by bus on Sept. 23, according to the school's Instagram post. Students were traveling to an outdoor course in the Blue Ridge Mountains where they would backpack, rock climb and "develop stronger bonds with their classmates," the post said.
Now, it is unclear when they will return. Hurricane Helene knocked out power and many major roadways in Asheville, where the waters rose up to 26 feet. The floods also damaged the city's public utilities, compromising the quality of residents' tap water. A boil advisory is in effect. The city also canceled classes at local schools through Friday.
Members of Pennsylvania Task Force 1, a Philadelphia-based disaster relief unit, traveled to North Carolina last week to assist with the hurricane's expected damage.
This is the second year that Girard College's ninth graders have participated in Outward Bound. Hardy praised "the continued patience and support of the students and their families while we await the campers' safe return."
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