Valle Crucis, North Carolina — In the hills of Watauga County in western North Carolina, the ride for Valle Crucis Elementary School students was filled with excitement Friday. They were among several thousand North Carolina students who returned to school for the first time since Hurricane Helene tore through portions of the state about a month ago, carving a path of destruction.  

“I was worried about them because of the hurricane,” one Valle Crucis student said of his fellow classmates. “And I was super happy, super-duper happy to see them.” 

Helene filled Valle Crucis Elementary, a K-8 school, with 4 feet of muddy water and swamped the school buses parked outside the school. As a result, classes are being temporarily held at an old conference center located about a mile from the damaged school.

“Students, faculty and families have been through trauma,” said Watauga County Schools Superintendent Leslie Alexander.  “Getting kids back is the first step to normalcy, but we have to realize that people have been through a lot.”

When Helene hit, 459 schools in 28 North Carolina districts were affected. Schools in five of those districts remain closed. Some may not open until early November.

Many students are still carrying a heavy mental load, the pain of losing a loved one or their home, or in some cases, both. At least 98 people were killed by Helene in North Carolina, according to numbers compiled by CBS News, and the hurricane was responsible for at least 217 deaths across six states.

On Friday, extra counselors were on hand at Watauga County schools for any staff and students who wanted to talk.

“For the first couple weeks, I started to feel anxiety from not seeing anyone, so it was really refreshing when I heard that this week we were going back to school,” 12-year-old Valle Crucis student Georgia said. 

Georgia was with her parents, James and Heather, when their home began to flood and their community was washed away.

“When the rain stopped and we went and walked around,” Heather said of her daughter. “She said, ‘I’m not learning academically right now, but I’m learning a lot about survival.'”