Will Debby disrupt the first day of school in Rock Hill and Fort Mill? Here’s the latest
Note: This story was published Wednesday. For Thursday updates, including school closures in York and Chester counties, visit this link.
With heavy rain and high winds projected across the Rock Hill region on Thursday from Tropical Storm Debby, school districts are monitoring conditions to see if students will start back to class on time.
The Rock Hill and Fort Mill school districts begin their new year Thursday. Schools in Clover, York and Chester County returned to class last week. Lancaster County schools don’t begin until Monday.
Severe weather from Debby could dampen first-day plans in York County’s two largest districts.
“We don’t know yet,” Rock Hill School District spokeswoman said by email Wednesday morning. “Our leadership team is closely monitoring the forecast and will make a call as soon as we can. Safety is our top priority, so if the weather poses a legitimate threat that would be the biggest concern.”
Flooding could be a concern, but so is wind.
School districts in the region have delayed or canceled school days more often for high wind in recent years than for snow or other weather. High winds can make travel dangerous for school buses.
The Fort Mill School District is monitoring the weather forecast but doesn’t foresee schedule changes for Thursday, district spokesman Joe Burke said in an email Wednesday morning. Buses can operate in up to 30 mph sustained winds with gusts up to 40 mph, Burke said.
The National Weather Service forecast for Rock Hill shows wind gusts of up to 25 mph Wednesday and 24 mph Thursday.
Sustained winds for Thursday are shown up to 15 mph. Moderate to heavy rainfall is predicted through Friday. Thursday has the highest rainfall chance, of up to 3 inches during the day.
Debby could dump three times more rain on Charlotte — up to 8 inches through Friday — than originally expected, The Charlotte Observer reported.
This story was originally published August 7, 2024 at 10:05 AM.
