Eureka schools face bus cancelations amid unsafe travel conditions

EUREKA, Mont. – School buses in Eureka will not be running today, Tuesday, November 26, due to unsafe travel conditions.

Eureka Public School District #13 announced the decision after attempting to drive several routes and finding them impassable.

"We are going to have to cancel buses once again on Tuesday 11/26. We drove, or attempted to drive several routes this afternoon to see if they were passible. We still don't have safe travel conditions for the buses," the district stated.

Despite the bus cancellations, schools will remain open. The district encourages families who can safely reach the school to attend. "If you can make it safely, please come. If you can't, please call your school in the morning to excuse your child," the district added.

The district hopes that conditions will improve by next week after the Thanksgiving break. "Hopefully this will all be cleared up by next week after we return from Thanksgiving break. Be safe and Happy Thanksgiving!" they said.

In addition to the transportation issues, the area is experiencing power outages. Lincoln Electric Cooperative, Inc. reported challenges due to snowy and icy conditions.

"The combination of snowy, icy conditions and the sheer number of trees that continue to fall on power lines is making restoration work required to be done in the safest manner possible," Lincoln Electric Cooperative stated.

The cooperative explained that wet snow and ice buildup is causing tree branches to bend into power lines, leading to faults. They also noted that snow buildup on power lines creates challenges when it falls off, causing the lines to slap together and trigger faults.