Late in the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 25, Broward County Public Schools called the parents of Broward students and posted on social media about the closing of school and district offices on Thursday, Sept. 26. This followed the tropical storm warning put in place for the majority of South Florida due to the rapidly growing Hurricane Helene. Later, on Thursday afternoon, BCPS announced that normal operations would resume on Friday, Sept. 27.

As Hurricane Helene continued its path through the Gulf of Mexico, sustaining winds of a category four storm by Thursday, Broward received strong winds and rain all over the county.

The Sun Sentinel describes other hazardous conditions in the area, such as tornadoes, flooding and lightning, but Broward was spared the worst of the storm. Evacuation was suggested to many counties in Florida’s Big Bend, near Tallahassee, throughout the week, which was expected to be directly hit. After the storm passed, many were left without power.

With this sudden closure, many school events and activities were canceled and postponed. Some students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were discontent with this.

“It was disappointing, because now we have to reschedule and reorganize a lot of stuff,” Robotics Club Vice President Riley Cousans said. “Now we’re behind.”

The club’s first general meeting was supposed to be on Thursday. However, students and staff tried to make the most of the day off, and by Friday, classes were back up and running.

“[On Thursday] I did Taekwondo and reorganized my room,” senior Madison Cousans said. “I got to spend quality time with my cats and apply for scholarships.”

The worst of Hurricane Helene is now over. Any further announcements regarding concerns about school and the storm will be addressed by BCPS on their website.