After six to 10 inches of rainfall Wednesday night though Thursday morning, the Bulloch County Schools district announced that all of the county’s dirt roads are closed to school buses Thursday afternoon through Friday. But the schools themselves will remain open, with the district reverting to its alternate bus transportation plan.
That plan was activated by the school district “in ongoing collaboration with Bulloch County Emergency Management and Public Safety, as Hayley Greene, Bulloch County Schools public relations director, announced in a midday media release.
Of course, the immediate need was to get the word out to parents before the ride home. Under the alternate transportation plan, school buses still travel, but the bus stops for dirt road-resident families are those designated on the nearest paved roads.
“We’ve communicated to parents with our electronic messaging system,” Greene said on the phone. “Yes, all dirt roads in Bulloch County are now closed to bus traffic. That doesn’t mean necessarily to regular traffic, but to bus traffic, all dirt roads are closed.
“There could be some paved roads as well, and we’re going to continue to update our list,” she said. “But if a road is a dirt road, even if you don’t see it on the list, we’re not going down it at all.”
The 10:30 a.m. Thursday version of the list appears at the bottom of this story. For the updated list and other information on the BCS alternate transportation plan, see www.bulloch.k12.ga.us/news-feed-data/rain-prevents-bus-travel-on-certain-roads
Bulloch County Schools were remaining open Thursday and Friday, Nov. 7 and 8, and the district will update parents by Sunday on the status of schools and bus transportation, Greene emphasized.
This school year has given families practice with the alternate bus transportation plan because of the previous torrential rains from Tropical Storm Debby in early August and the road closures, mostly from fallen trees, caused by Hurricane Helene in late September. Now a nameless storm system, quiet except for the downpour, has caused further flooding and road damage.
“We had some roads that are still closed because of Debby and Helene,” Greene acknowledged.
In fact, the following list of roads that were closed to buses as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday concludes with a shorter list of 10 roads that have been closed since Debby and Helene, including one paved road segment, on Brannen Pond Road, actually closed since Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 30, 2023.
Damaged Roads*
(*As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 7. These and all Bulloch County dirt roads, even if not listed here, are now closed to school buses through Friday, Nov. 8.)
- Aycock
- Bee Bee
- Black Creek
- Burkhalter (Towards Clito & Magnolia Church Rd)
- Buck Creek
- Buster Miller
- Cliponreka
- Cypress Lake Road (portions)
- Harold Horrell
- Holland
- Jo Dan
- Kelly Pond
- Lakeview at Mallard Pond & MIddleground
- Langston Chapel Road (portions)
- Lester Fordham
- McEleven Pond
- Old Register
- Oliff Hill
- Packinghouse
- Ponderosa
- Reedy Branch (Nevils Groveland Rd. side)
- Riverview
- R L Lee
- Shuman at Club Road (Use caution)
- Sinkhole
- Spell Mincey
- Vista
- Westside (Towards Portal)
- West Jones (Closed at Cromartie)
- West Waters
- W H Smith
- Wigg Fall
- Willow Hill Road at U.S. Hwy. 80
- Womack
Please note that these roads also remain closed due to damage from Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene:
- Brannen Pond Road
- Nevils Denmark Road
- M P Martin
- Honey Bowen Road (per county list)
- Bethel Church Road (alternate stop at church)
- Wilburn Road
- Mitchell Rigdon
- Shawn Sorrell Road
- Kendricks Road
- Horse Fly Road.