GEORGIA, USA — Hurricane Helene came and went, but many parts of Central Georgia and the Southeast United States are still in recovery stages.
Several schools closed ahead of Helene's arrival, and many stayed closed for about a week while power was out.
Now, there's progress made to get kids and teachers back to school in the storm's aftermath.
By today, every Central Georgia school district should be back in session.
Wheeler, Hancock and Washington County schools remained closed from Monday, Sept. 30 through Friday, Oct. 4.
All three districts anticipated their return on Monday, Oct. 7.
Principal William Bell at Wheeler High and Hancock Superintendent Anton Anthony both said it's critical for kids to return to some sense of normalcy amid the trauma caused by the natural disaster.
"Our attendance was actually up," Anthony said. "Our kids were ready to go back to school."
Washington County had to hold off for one more day out of caution for the students and staff because of "potential road hazards" and power outages.
Laurens County returned to their normal schedule quicker than most schools affected by the storm.
Staff returned Wednesday, Oct. 2 and students returned Thursday, Oct. 3.
Telfair Treutlen and Johnson County Schools expect to return today.
Superintendent Lenard Harrelson in Telfair told us most of the roads are cleared for bus routes and they're notifying a handful of families about changes.
"We're working around any, if we can't get down a particular road, alternate routes," Harrelson said. "The bus drivers are dealing with those few kids directly."
Johnson County Superintendent Christopher Watkins told us they're still assessing the damage on school properties, most notably the football stadium and baseball dugouts that need repairs.
"[We had] a few, minor damages to a few buildings, but nothing as far as the infrastructure of the actual school buildings where students are getting instruction at," Watkins said.
Damage is under assessment in several areas, including schools and neighborhoods.
Johnson and Hancock superintendents said they will not turn down any donations.
Anthony said Hancock students may need laundry detergent more than anything else right now so that they have clean clothes to wear.