Pope students and teachers found themselves trapped on campus Monday afternoon as torrential rains drenched the area, leaving the only entrance to Pope under as many as five feet of water, according to a public safety official. Standing water blocked Pope’s only exit, forcing school administrators to hold students on campus after they were dismissed for the day. “I would let [students] leave if I could, but you physically cannot leave the campus,” Assistant Administrator Nancy Zarbnisky said as students attempted to leave the Pope campus.
At one point, the Cobb fire department launched a rescue raft on Hembree Road, according to Cobb Emergency Management Agency Director Lanita Lloyd. LLoyd said that the fire department rescued at least one person in the vicinity of Pope.
Although the extent and severity of storm damage is not clear at this time, many members of the Pope community expect that flooding damaged the landscaping at the front of the school. After student drivers were dismissed twenty minutes early, many reported seeing fallen tree limbs, plants and grass washed away, and puddles of mud in the parking lot and on the roadway. It is unclear at this time whether or not any cars parked on Pope grounds were damaged by floodwaters; administrators reportedly asked students whose cars were parked in low-lying areas to report to the Pupil Personnel Office (PPO). - Jonathan Klein, Editor-in-Chief
Please note: The Greyhound Tracks will continue to follow and update this developing story. Additional photos are available here.