US weather forecast: Mass flu outbreak and huge dumping of snow sparks widespread school closings as severe storms hit
SCHOOLS throughout the country have closed as snowstorms and severe weather — and illness — hit the U.S.
Students in Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and , among others, didn’t have to show up for school on Friday due to dangerous .
“Changing conditions overnight, including power outages at a dozen schools, impacts of continued strong winds and road conditions , have created unsafe driving for school buses and students getting to schools,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said Friday.
Many schools, however, haven’t entirely closed and are operating on a two-hour delay.
Classes were canceled across more than half of .
Superintendent Terry Dade, of Rochester City schools in , announced Friday’s school closures in a .
“As you can see, it is snowing fiercely outside, so I’ve just one thing to say: Happy snow day to ya, happy snow day to ya, happy snow day!” Dade sang to the tune of Stevie Wonder’s song “Happy Birthday.”
“Schools are closed today RSCD family, stay safe and warm out there — I look forward to seeing you back in school bright and early Monday morning.”
Some school districts, like in upstate New York, closed entirely because so many people are out sick with the flu.
“The flu has hit our district pretty hard,” said Dr. Robert Anderson, superintendent of the Gowanda Central School District in Cattaraugus County.
"We are going to be, as we do every day, disinfect and sanitize all the buildings, including the buses," Anderson .
In , Williamson County schools saw nearly 400 teachers and teaching assistants call out sick because of the flu, the Nashville Tennessean.
As of Thursday, attendance dropped to about 93 percent of students.
Nearly 300 students were absent across the district on Wednesday and at least 39 students had to be sent home.
At least five people were killed and nearly 150,000 homes and businesses in the southeastern U.S. were without power Friday morning because of a powerful storm that hit the region.
Nearly 75,000 of those were in Florida, but the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia also reported outages, and tornado watches and warnings were in effect as of Thursday night from northern Florida to North Carolina.
The National Weather Service said early Friday that the storm system was strengthening, bringing rain, snow, ice and high winds up north.
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