GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Helene caused devastation in several states, sending many families to seek refuge elsewhere.
According to Guilford County Schools, at least three families impacted by Helene have enrolled their students into GCS.
WFMY News 2's Nixon Norman spoke with the mother of one of those students, Katie Wilkins, who said she feels like she had no choice but to come here.
Her family lived in Greenville County, South Carolina, which is about an hour from Asheville.
After losing their home, they are now making Guilford County home for the time being, even enrolling their child in school here.
Multiple trees fell on and around Wilkins' home, one of them even landing on her bed only ten minutes after her husband got up due to the loud noises that night.
She said she's grateful everyone is okay but that the loss of their home has been a hard loss to process.
"There's a lot of things I think about and it's just kind of like… I have to just remember that it's 'stuff'… but it's my 'stuff'… I'm just so thankful and blessed everyday that we are all four okay," Wilkins said.
Not only is Wilkins and her children staying in McLeansville, she enrolled her younger son in Guilford County Schools.
Her son is 5-years-old, he has autism and is nonverbal. She said in order to provide him some sense of normalcy. She felt it was only right to stay at her mom's home in McLeansville, where she could put her son in a local elementary school.
"He can't understand what's going on, you know? He knows we're not at our house but it's just like a lot, we had to change schools. We had to find a school that had a room for him to be in, that was a good environment for him. It's really come together, we've been very fortunate with the school he's at now," Wilkins said. "Routine and structure and stability is very important for him with his special needs. He needed his own space, like a bedroom, so I knew he had it at my mom's house. I knew the schools here were great, my mom is retired from the school system, and I grew up in the school system here, so I know it's a good school system. So, I knew this was my only option I mean, it was tough to tell my husband and leave him there but i knew for my children's sake and my sake, we needed to do something."
WFMY News 2 reached out to other school systems in the Triad, Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools and Stokes County Schools said it has also enrolled students impacted by Helene.
Other school systems like Yadkin County Schools and Wilkes County Schools said it's very likely that extended family members of students have been impacted by Helene.
