Unicoi County Schools rebound after Helene

Unicoi County Schools leaders say the district has largely found its footing more than a year after Hurricane Helene devastated the county, though some families continue to face challenges from the disaster.Director John English said Temple Hill Elementary School reopened in August after flooding damaged its gym, cafeteria and other facilities during the September 2024 storm. He said students and teachers are "happy to be back in their school" after spending the remainder of last school year at Unicoi County Middle School."Obviously, there are still people dealing every day with the different ways they were impacted," English said. "But I think, as a whole, people have really persevered."Unicoi County was among the hardest hit areas in Northeast Tennessee when Helene struck the region. The Nolichucky River flooded the Unicoi County Hospital, leaving everything but the roof submerged and forcing staff to evacuate 70 people to the rooftop. Interstate 26 was closed for several weeks due to damage from the flooding. The storm also displaced several families and resulted in six deaths at the Impact Plastics facility in Erwin. English acknowledged that many families continue to deal with trauma and loss from the storm, including students who lost parents or homes.English said student mental health support has been a main priority for the district ever since the storm. He said counselors, principals and teachers have maintained close contact with affected families."Students go through trauma, and they go through things in their lives," English said. "As a school system, to me, that's still the number one thing we want to account for is that we're meeting those non-academic needs."If you don't meet those non-academic needs of students, then it doesn't matter how hard you're teaching or how hard your teachers are working to deliver the instruction."English said the district assisted families who needed clothing, backpacks and other supplies after the storm. However, he noted that all staff and students who lost homes have since found permanent housing, either through rebuilding efforts or moving in with family members.English said volunteers and donors from across the state, region and country supported the district during recovery efforts in the county. He added that the district's participation in ETSU's Resilient Schools project for the past five years also helped prepare staff for crisis response efforts."It was a horrific thing to go through as a community, but I think everyone here would say that the response that we got from within and outside of the community was just incredible," English said. "It's a very resilient community."Editor's Note: A previous version of this story erroneously reported the number of deaths in Unicoi County relating to Hurricane Helene. There were six deaths in Unicoi County.