Well parents still have to go to work even in inclement weather so I couldn't imagine closing and if the power went out well its not that big of a deal now if the power was out for several days then that would be a different story but we do have a generator for emergencies. However my husband would only fire it up after about 4 hours of no power to run the furnace and the well and the fridge. But I would not close just because the busses are not running.