A deadly hurricane is the latest disruption for young athletes who already have endured a pandemic

AP Sports Writer

The destruction from Hurricane Helene has disrupted the high school landscape throughout southern Appalachia. Floodwaters swallowed entire high school athletic complexes and washed out roads that forced the postponement of football games throughout the region for a second straight week. In western North Carolina, Pisgah High School reopened its football stadium last year after Tropical Storm Fred tore through in 2021. Now it has to be rebuilt again. School athletic director Heidi Morgan says she’s trying to keep things in perspective. The storm is blamed for the loss of more than 200 lives. Morgan says that while material things can be replaced, lives cannot.