Roughly 30 Philadelphia high school students return home after being stranded in NC

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- About 30 Philadelphia high school students who were stranded in Asheville, North Carolina, returned home on Wednesday, school leaders announced.

The students were camping with Girard College and the North Carolina Outward Bound Program for a week, but they were unable to return home due to Hurricane Helene.

RELATED | Hurricane Helene ranks among deadliest storms to hit US with nearly 160 deaths across 6 states

On Tuesday, officials with Girard College said the students were on their way home by bus and expected to be back by Wednesday morning.

The statement went on to say everyone involved was in good spirits.

Read the full statement from Girard College below:

"I am happy to report that, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our partners from the North Carolina Outward Bound School and emergency response officials in Burke County, North Carolina, and the U.S. Forestry Service, our 31 ninth-grade students are currently on their way by bus back to the Girard College campus. All the children, as well as the faculty and residential advisors who supervised the trip, are safe and in good spirits, and we are anticipating their arrival early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.

On behalf of the entire Girard community, I want to thank our Outward Bound School partners and the great work of the storm response team in North Carolina, who helped the children from the base camp to downtown Asheville, where the bus awaited them. I also thank our parents and families for their patience and support while they anxiously awaited the return of the children."

The students, along with a teacher and two resident advisors, left for the camping trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains a week ago.

Parents previously told Action News the group was supposed to return on Friday. When it looked like that was not going to happen, however, parents say Girard College began to clue them in on what was going on.

Many said they were confused as to why the school didn't cancel the trip when it realized a dangerous storm was heading toward North Carolina.

A representative for Girard College responded, saying that the school and Outward Bound discussed many scenarios and made a decision that they thought was in the best interest of student safety.