High winds, power outages: Students left in the dark wonder why Wake didn't cancel schools as storm raged

A power outage in Wake County and slick roads with dropping temperatures across central North Carolina saw some students sent home early on the first school day of the new year while others wondered why they did not get the same treatment.

Students sat in the dark and cold for three hours at Green Hope High School after high winds overnight knocked out power. Classes were dismissed at 10:15 a.m., with outages in the tens of thousands across the state and rain and snow continuing to fall.

Senior Jack Kastin said, "It was just absolutely crazy."

He described a packed common area, with students using the light on their phones to see each other as they waited for instruction.

"It kind of seemed like nobody knew what to do," he said, adding, "Some students who were really upset were yelling at our principal, but that helps no one."

Power was out briefly at five Wake County schools on Monday morning: Green Hope, Apex, Athens Drive and Enloe high schools and Lufkin elementary school.

Students and parents vented their frustrations on social media, wondering why the Wake County Public School System did not delay or cancel classes due to the weather.

District spokeswoman Lisa Luten told WRAL News,"The wind advisory last night did not warrant a school closure. A delay would not have made the situation safer. Remember that our routes start at 5:30 a.m., so the first weather advisory this morning came after most buses had started routes."

She pointed out that only Green Hope had to dismiss early.

"Several other schools had brief outages this morning that were restored quickly and did not interrupt the school day significantly," Luten said.

Junior Adam Rouk said, "We shouldn’t have been there in the first place. All the lights were out on the road, then we came to school and the power was out. I don’t know why we didn’t cancel it."

A Wake Forest High School mom told WRAL News that a tree fell down on middle of the road near where parents were dropping off students.

In Vance County, schools were dismissed beginning with elementary schools at 1 p.m. due to "inclement weather and safety." A light snow was falling on already-wet roads, and temperatures were expected to drop through the afternoon. Warren County Schools dismissed students at noon.

Through 3 p.m., thousands of Duke Energy customers in central North Carolina were still without power.