Swans in the UK are technically owned by the royal family, thanks to some very old laws (like medieval old). Combined with being a protected species, and they probably just wanted to avoid accidentally hurting it by driving off while it was on the bus (also to get it vet attention in case it was already hurt or sick).

Flash floods. Dry in the morning so kids can go to school, but rapidly gets very very bad from the rainfall later in the day. The school should still have been closed in anticipation for the storms, but a lot of school districts drag their feet when it comes to closing for "potential" bad weather.