Severe weather forces Crosby graduation delays

CROSBY, TX (KTRK) -- Parents of Crosby High School seniors are questioning the district's decision to postpone graduation for three hours on Friday night after rain inundated the area for hours. The ceremony finally started a few minutes before 10pm, almost three hours after it was scheduled to start.

"It's crazy. They need to just cancel it," mother Kelly Smith said while waiting in her car in the parking lot for the ceremony to start. "No balloons, signs, or umbrellas. It's raining!"

It was the moment students have been waiting for all year, but the start time kept getting pushed back later and later in the evening.

"We just want to see them graduate and walk across. We'll wait as long as we need to wait," father Allen Bishop said. "We've waited years so we just want to see them graduate."

Some relatives couldn't even make the drive to get there.

"Let's do it on a day that's going to be life changing and memorable," urged Stephanie Hill, whose relatives were not able to come due to flooding in their area.

The superintendent said the plan was publicized a year ago to delay in the event of inclement weather, taking it minute by minute past 9pm.

"I know it's a burden, we apologize for the burden, but again, we publicized early on that if it rains, we would delay from 7 to 8, then 8 to 9," Keith Moore said.

At about 9:15pm, people were advised to leave the stadium due to lightning. Graduates finally started filing in around 9:50pm. Part of the backup plans included hosting the ceremony at the stadium Saturday morning or indoors at the M.O. Campbell center Saturday night. Moore said with rain in the forecast Saturday morning and people traveling for the holiday weekend, he preferred to push it back Friday night until the rain was gone.

During the ceremony, Moore apologized for the delays and said he prayed for it to not be too hot a year ago when the ceremony was initially planned. He joked that his prayer was answered.