Just days after Hurricane Helene prompted widespread closures across Florida's First Coast, Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) are set to resume classes. The school district announced plans to reopen schools on Monday, as reported by First Coast News, following the lifting of the local state of emergency at 8 a.m. Saturday. Preliminary evaluations of power and damage in school facilities informed this decision.
Power restoration efforts by Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) have been unfolding alongside community cleanup. JEA's diligent work has re-energized 267,972 customers to date, with another 14,280 pending, as noted by News4Jax. The utility is now executing Phase 2 of their restoration agenda, targeting electric circuits which, once repaired, could reinstate power for an estimated 2,500 homes at a time.
A return to normalcy is on the horizon as the DCPS announced, with sincere gratitude for the contributions from various school and district staff, as well as JEA and all other aiding parties, "we are pleased to announce that Duval County Public Schools will reopen and return to normal operations on Monday, Sept. 30. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school." This confirmation appeared on the DCPS website.
All operations at the Legends Center shelter ended at 8 a.m. Saturday, marking the closure of all five city shelters. The Jacksonville Public Library is also returning to normal operations, with all 20 locations open as of Saturday. JEA is still facilitating outage reporting through their website, while 630-CITY remains available for residents needing storm-related services or wishing to report issues until noon on Saturday, before resuming regular hours on Monday.
