PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Tiara Dargan is happy to be home, even if it’s a little late.
The 14-year-old Girard College student was one of 31 stranded on Table Rock Mountain last week when a camping trip was unexpectedly extended due to Hurricane Helene.
The storm landed in Florida as a Category 4 major hurricane before moving north through Georgia and into Tennessee and North Carolina, where authorities described the flooding and damage as “biblical” in severity . Several locations in western North Carolina broke daily rainfall totals and saw between 12 and 18 inches of rain over three days, which flooded rivers and caused landslides and mudslides.
Students were camping on the mountain as part of the Outward Bound program. It was Dargan’s first big trip outside of Philly and first time in North Carolina. She was supposed to return Friday, Sept. 27, the day the bulk of Helene struck the area after two days of precursor showers.