31 Philly students stranded in North Carolina during Hurricane Helene make safe return home

PHILADELPHIA - Girard College high school freshmen are home tonight. The students and their parents all breathed a huge sigh of relief after the 9th graders were stranded in North Carolina. Hurricane Helene hit several days into an Outward Bound trip.

Tiara Dargan's parents were overjoyed to see their daughter after some sleepless nights. Stephanie Jones says, "Oh my god, I was just so happy. I just hugged my baby. I didn't want to let her go." Tiara's dad echoed her thoughts, "I wasn't getting out of the car fast enough for her to hug me. 'Come on Dad, get out of the car.' I had to hug her real tight."

Hurricane Helene washed out roads and caused extensive damage. Tiara says she had never been away on a trip without her parents before. "We were on top of a mountain in the woods. It was raining very hard. Yeah, I was scared. I was very scared," she recalled.

The 9th graders left for the outdoor enrichment program in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville on Monday. 

They were supposed to return on Friday, but couldn't get out. 

Tiara's parents were a nervous wreck watching the flooding and devastation unfold on television. Her dad says, "It was just heart-wrenching to see all that, wondering how she is because we couldn't talk to her."

Mom Stephanie says the kids didn't have cell phones. "Just not being able to hear my child's voice, not knowing what was going on, the unknown was really sending me crazy," she shared.

The students sheltered in place at a nearby cabin until area roads were cleared, and it was safe to make it down to waiting vans.

"We had to travel one mile up a hill, one mile down, complete obstacle course, landslides, mud everywhere, trees fallen," Tiara explained.

 Tiara's parents say the school kept them informed via email and Zoom, and finally on Sunday, they were able to talk to their daughter as the students got ready to make the long 12-hour drive home.

"When she called, the first thing she said was 'Dad I'm just glad to hear your voice,' and I could hear in her voice she was scared and started crying," said Terrell.

Tiara says it was a good outdoor learning experience, until Helene changed everything. "I'm definitely not forgetting this. This is gonna be engraved in my heart and my memory. The time I survived North Carolina."

Tiara took a nice long hot shower when she got home and is looking forward to sleeping in her own bed. 

She says it'll be a good while before she goes on another out of state outdoor adventure.