Amid all the incredible damage that hurricanes and wildfires do to our communities in the wake of major instances across the U.S. in recent months, it's easy to overlook one crucial impact: the effect they have on children's education. A report from Tampa Bay's WUSF and Climate Central recently examined that impact.
What's happening?
When Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida this past fall, they damaged 36 schools and district facilities across the region. While most were able to partially or fully reopen, two schools were still closed as of early December, including Gulf Beaches Elementary Magnet — and even the schools that did reopen missed a minimum of six days, per the report.
"We were crying, 'I don't want to do home school!' and 'I'm so sad about our school, it's probably going to take so long to repair!'" fourth grader Brielle Spain told WUSF.
Gulf Beaches Elementary's principal Robert Kalach has always known that the school could be hit with a hurricane, but the scale of the destruction shocked him.
"My family, we've seen our share of storms," he told WUSF. "This is unprecedented."
Why is the storm damage significant?
As Kalach intuited, this storm season was unusual. As the world gets hotter, the number of serious natural disasters is increasing. We're seeing more powerful hurricanes thanks to the warmer seas and higher water levels, and that means more storm damage not only to homes and businesses but also to the infrastructure and institutions we rely on in our daily lives.
That kind of disruption could have a lasting impact long after the debris is cleared away. For example, what will it do to the education of the young people being displaced from their schools? And what about their mental wellbeing?
For Spain and her classmates, the destruction left behind means being sent to a temporary new school while the old one undergoes months of repairs, per the report. But it's difficult to know which sites could be next in line, which makes it harder to predict the possible consequences of future disasters.
What's being done about the destroyed schools?
There is still some question about who will pay for the repairs these schools need. Right now, the districts are out $14 million, with the hope that insurance or FEMA will cover some of the bill, per WUSF.
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There's also the possibility that schools could be better protected from future storms with the right architectural updates, but once again, it's uncertain where the money will come from — especially with so many schools potentially in the path of danger.
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