By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

North Rowan won’t have a football game this week.

The Cavaliers (3-1) won’t be making the trip to North Moore, which is  located in the sandhills area struck hard by Hurricane Florence. North Moore High is in the small town of Robbins, 67 miles southeast of North Rowan and a little north of the Pinehurst/Southern Pines golf havens where the high school state championships are conducted.

Parts of Moore County received 16 inches of rainfall over a three-day period. There was a tremendous amount of flooding, with bridges overwhelmed and roads swamped by overflowing lakes, rivers and creeks. There were many downed trees from the storm and downed trees mean downed power lines, adding to the safety hazards.

North Moore hasn’t been able to practice football or any other fall sports since last Tuesday and hasn’t conducted classes since an early dismissal on Wednesday of last week.

The plan is for school to finally re-open tomorrow with a two-hour delay.

While the water disappeared relatively quickly in Rowan County, eastern North Carolina is still struggling with Florence. As of Tuesday, there were still 1,100 closed roads, 340,000 citizens without power (down from almost 600,000 on Sunday) and 10,000 displaced people depending on shelters

Wilmington received 26 inches of rain, while Elizabethtown, where the students attend East Bladen High, was hit hardest of all. Elizabethtown was inundated by nearly 36 inches of rainfall.

In 2016, hardships created by Hurricane Matthew, led to the NCHSAA pushing back football playoff games.

North Rowan, ranked ninth in 1A and looking like the county team that has the best chance to make an impact in the state playoffs, will play only twice in the month of September. The Cavaliers beat Carson, 26-0, on Sept. 7, and they’re scheduled to play at South Stanly on Sept. 28. North hasn’t played in Spencer since it beat Lexington on Thursday, Aug. 30,and won’t be home again until it takes on Albemarle on Oct. 5.