The Disruptive Effects of Hurricanes on School Operations and Reopening

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to examine the immediate impacts of hurricanes on schools and document the competing priorities faced by educators as they return to their educational mission of serving students and assisting with communal recovery. The research team conducted 115 interviews with educators across 20 school districts after Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina and Hurricane Harvey in Texas. After the hurricanes, respondents described disruptions in the form of operational, personal, and displacement. Educators adapted to their shifting responsibilities by taking on new roles in managing school property, volunteering in the community, and managing relief efforts. This paper addresses a gap in the literature on the immediate impacts of hurricanes on schools by studying two storms in different states, which enables more transferable conclusions to be drawn than in prior studies. When helping schools make disaster plans, educators and emergency planners should address the anticipated disruptions, account for shifting responsibilities, and enable clear communication during the disaster and recovery process.