DeKalb County students will return to class today for the first time this week now that all schools have power,

Downed power lines, trees posed safety issues.

DeKalb County School District students will return to school today for the first time since the area was pounded by the storm known as Irma.

Just after 4 p.m. Thursday, officials said all schoolhouses had power. Some still had downed power lines and trees blocking roads that hindered travel.

“While our status is not yet optimum, we are prepared to reopen schools safely and effectively,” Superintendent Steve Green said in the afternoon announcement.

The county was hit hard as Tropical Storm Irma marched north through Georgia, carrying high winds and heavy rain into the area. While other metro Atlanta school districts had reopened Thursday morning, Green said more work was needed for DeKalb to follow suit.

Dekalb County declared a state of emergency after the storm left more than half of its residents in the dark.

DeKalb County officials said nearly 200 trees fell in the county, and more than 80 roads were blocked in various spots.

But Irma missed DeKalb entirely. How did the county get beat up so bad? Blame those lovable trees. Glenn Burns, Channel 2 Action News’ chief meteorologist, said trees were behind many of the problems faced in the county.

“Many old and dead trees caved because of the stronger winds from Irma,” he said. “There just seems to be more dead or dying trees in DeKalb. A qualified arborist needs to inspect the trees to determine the health of the tree.

“While you look at an old tree that still has its leaves and looks reasonably healthy, it may be a wind gust away from toppling over.”

Green praised workers from the district’s maintenance and facilities departments, saying they were “working around the clock” to get schools back online.

“I’ve been out here for two days seeing where the hot spots are and all we have to deal with,” he said. “Sure, we would like to be open, too.

“But I’m willing to trade a day (off ) in the name of safety.”

Reaction to the news late Thursday was mostly people wondering why the district would open with just one day left in the week.

District officials have said just four bad-weather days are built into the calendar. If school had been out a fifth day, another make-up day would have been necessary.

That may still be needed if the region has anything but a mild winter.