In Asheville, high school seniors make key life choices under the stress of Helene recovery

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — On a recent Friday, Ari Cohen and three friends — all seniors at Asheville High School — gathered to play UNO inside his house, next to a pile of bottled water in his living room.

It had been weeks since they and thousands of other students had been inside a classroom because of devastation from Hurricane Helene, which left a massive tree leaning on Cohen's house. Without reliable cell or internet service, students in hard-hit Asheville have been finding other ways to pass the time — whether volunteering, exploring hurricane-damaged parts of town or playing board games.

“We’ve been hanging out pretty much every single day,” said Nathaniel Durham, one of Cohen's friends. “We haven’t gotten sick of each other yet though.”

The storm has disrupted schooling for students of all ages across western North Carolina, but it came at an especially delicate time for high school seniors who are making important life decisions — figuring out what to do after graduation and applying to colleges. Meanwhile, they are making memories for their last year in high school while processing the disaster's impact on their communities.

Some families evacuated after the storm, enrolling at least temporarily in schools elsewhere. Students trying to complete college applications have run into difficulties with internet, cell service and basic transportation. For others who may have been on the fence about higher education, the crisis has added new challenges.

Remnants of Helene hit on Sept. 27. Asheville, North Carolina’s largest mountain city, was largely cut off as roads were washed away or blocked by mudslides. Six western North Carolina school districts were still closed as of Thursday, according to the state.

The Asheville City Schools system is set to reopen with shortened, four-hour days on Monday, according to its website. Superintendent Maggie Fehrman has said the system would explore drilling wells and bringing in restroom trailers while the city's devastated water system is still being repaired. The Buncombe County Schools system was also scheduled to return Friday on a two-hour delay.

But even with classes resuming, uncertainty remains for Cohen and others. He had planned to graduate early, partly to recover from hip surgery scheduled in December. That's still the general plan, Cohen said, but he's unsure if the timeline will change.

One of Max Schantz' first concerns was a college scholarship application due a few days after Helene blew into the Southeast. The senior at the School of Inquiry & Life Sciences at Asheville had no cell or internet service through the weekend, so he went to a library that had Wi-Fi to work on his essays. He sat outside the closed building for about two hours with about 80 other people, hoping to use the internet.

Schantz' family left Asheville days later for Miami because his father needed to work remotely. But time was running out for Schantz' application. Then, checking his email at a rest stop, Schantz was relieved to see the deadline was extended.

Later, Schantz decided to discuss the hurricane's impact on Asheville in his application — something he contemplated for a while.

“It was really difficult because I didn't know if a college admissions officer would want to hear that or not,” he said.

Even though school buildings were closed, Buncombe County Schools and Asheville City Schools held in-person sessions in October to help students through the college admissions process. Counselors offered help with writing essays, completing financial aid forms and using the Common App.

Abe Garry, one of Cohen's friends, received help from one of the sessions. He was concerned about getting teacher recommendations in time for his applications, but he said most colleges he’s applying to have been lenient with western North Carolina students.

Another setback came when Helene canceled his date to retake the SAT in hopes of a higher score.

“I was frustrated just because I think that if I did do good, it could have definitely helped me out,” Garry said.

School disruptions are familiar for the seniors, who went through the isolating COVID-19 pandemic as they transitioned into high school. Now, they're battling a similar issue.

Caroline Barton said things haven't quite been the same since the pandemic, and Helene has added to the feeling of never having a normal high school experience.

She also has grappled with survivor's guilt since Helene, as her home wasn't destroyed like some of her peers'. Her teachers have let students talk openly about their experiences, which has helped.

“I don’t know anyone who has died. My family is safe. Our house is OK. Our backyard is somewhat OK. We have cars that work," she said. "But I’m definitely not OK.”

In the first week back at the independent Carolina Day School in Asheville, Barton said many fellow seniors were stressed about college admissions and what school would bring.

“This is a really stressful time for seniors just in general, and then you throw a hurricane on top of it,” Barton said.

Barton, who runs cross country and track, had to delay a recruiting trip at an Ivy League university when her flight was canceled the day after Helene hit. The next morning, Barton and her mother navigated storm-torn roads to take off from another airport by herself. She is planning to attend the university after the recruiting trip, Barton said, but she knows many classmates are still fretting about falling behind on applications.

There are some silver linings to the hardships from Helene, Asheville High School senior Nathan Flaherty said. Volunteering — something he previously saw as mostly a requirement for college applications — became a part of his daily routine. Seeing people come together has been a “light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

Flaherty's career plans after graduation may have also shifted. He planned to attend flight school to become a pilot, but after Helene, he's now considering combining that profession with emergency management.

It's hard for Schantz to describe how he feels knowing a month of his senior year is gone. As he plans to head back to Asheville, Schantz said he's mentally preparing for “a whole different world.”

“It was just a really fun time before, and I don't know if it will ever get back to that level of just enjoyment,” he said.

A tree that fell during Hurricane Helene rests on the roof of the home where high school senior Ari Cohen lives with his mom and stepfather, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Cases of water, canned food and other supplies are seen in the living room while high school senior Ari Cohen, right, and his friends play a game of Uno, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

From left, high school seniors Ari Cohen, Nathaniel Durham, Abe Garry and Mason Cooke play a game of Uno in Cohen's living room, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Boxes of food items line the stage in an auditorium of the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center in Asheville, N.C., where high school senior Nathan Flaherty volunteers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

High school senior Nathan Flaherty packs hygiene kits for people in need of supplies as he volunteers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, at the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

High school senior Nathan Flaherty pauses while packing hygiene kits for people in need of supplies as he volunteers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, at the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

HOUSTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will team up with Beyoncé on Friday for a rally in solidly Republican Texas aimed at highlighting the perilous medical fallout from the state's strict abortion ban and putting the blame squarely on Donald Trump.

It's a message intended to register far beyond Texas in the political battleground states, where Harris is hoping that the aftereffects from the fall of Roe v. Wade will spur voters to turn out to support her quest for the presidency.

Harris will also be joined at the rally by women who have nearly died from sepsis and other pregnancy complications because they were unable to get proper medical care, including women who never intended to end their pregnancies.

Some of them have already been out campaigning for Harris and others have told their harrowing tales in campaign ads that seek to show how the issue has ballooned into something far bigger than the right to end an unwanted pregnancy.

Since abortion was restricted in Texas, the state’s infant death rate increased, more babies have died of birth defects and maternal mortality has risen.

With the presidential election in a dead heat, the Democratic nominee is banking on abortion rights as a major driver for voters — including for Republican women, particularly since Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the constitutional right and he has been inconsistent about how he would approach the issue if voters return him to the White House.

Harris’ campaign has taken on Beyonce’s 2016 track “Freedom” as its anthem, and the message dovetails with the vice president's push for reproductive freedom. The singer’s planned appearance Friday adds a high level of star power to Harris' visit to the state. While in Texas, Harris also will tape a podcast with popular host Brené Brown.

There is some evidence to suggest that abortion rights may drive women to the polls as it did during the 2022 midterm elections. Voters in seven states, including some conservative ones, have either protected abortion rights or defeated attempts to restrict them in statewide votes over the past two years.

“Living in Texas, it feels incredibly important to protect women’s health and safety,” said Colette Clark, an Austin voter. She said voting for Harris is the best way to prevent further abortion restrictions from happening across the country.

Another Austin resident, Daniel Kardish, didn't know anyone who has been personally affected by the restrictions, but nonetheless views it as a key issue this election.

“I feel strongly about women having bodily autonomy,” he said.

Harris said this week she thought the issue was compelling enough to motivate even Republican women, adding, “for so many of us, our daughter is going to have fewer rights than their grandmother.”

"When the issue of the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body is on the ballot, the American people vote for freedom regardless of the party with which they’re registered to vote," Harris said.

Harris isn’t likely to win Texas, but that isn’t the point of her presence Friday.

“Of all the states in the nation, Texas has been ground zero for harrowing stories of women, including women who have been denied care, who had to leave the state, mothers who have had to leave the state,” said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, a legal group behind many lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions. “It's one of the major places where this reality has been so, so devastatingly felt.”

Democrats warn that a winnowing of rights and freedoms will only continue if Trump is elected. Republican lawmakers in states across the U.S. have been rejecting Democrats' efforts to protect or expand access to birth control, for example.

Democrats also hope Harris' visit will give a boost to Rep. Colin Allred, who is making a longshot bid to unseat Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred will appear at the rally with Harris.

When Roe was first overturned, Democrats initially focused on the new limitations on access to abortion to end unwanted pregnancies. But the same medical procedures used for abortions are used to treat miscarriages.

And increasingly, in 14 states with strict abortion bans, women cannot get medical care until their condition has become life-threatening. In some states, doctors can face criminal charges if they provide medical care.

About 6 in 10 Americans think their state should generally allow a person to obtain a legal abortion if they don’t want to be pregnant for any reason, according to a July poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Trump has been inconsistent in his message to voters on abortion and reproductive rights. He has repeatedly shifted his stance and offered vague, contradictory and at times nonsensical answers to questions on an issue that has become a major vulnerability for Republicans in this year’s election.

Texas encapsulates the post-Roe landscape. Its strict abortion ban prohibits physicians from performing abortions once cardiac activity is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks or before.

As a result, women, including those who didn’t intend to end a pregnancy, are increasingly suffering worse medical care. That's in part because doctors cannot intervene unless a woman is facing a life-threatening condition, or to prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function.”

The state also has become a battleground for litigation. The U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on the side of the state’s ban just two weeks ago.

Complaints of pregnant women in medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms in Texas and elsewhere have spiked as hospitals grapple with whether standard care could violate strict state laws against abortion.

Several Texas women have lodged complaints against hospitals for not terminating their failing and dangerous pregnancies because of the state’s ban. In some cases, women lost reproductive organs.

Of late, Republicans have increasingly tried to place the blame on doctors, alleging that physicians are intentionally denying services in an effort to undercut the bans and make a political point.

Perryman said that was gaslighting.

“Doctors are being placed in a position where they are having to face the prospect of criminal liability, of personal liability, threat to their medical license and their ability to care for people — they’re faced with an untenable position,” she said.

Long reported from Washington and Lathan from Austin, Texas.

Harris, Beyoncé team up for a Texas rally on abortion rights — hoping battleground states hear them

Harris, Beyoncé team up for a Texas rally on abortion rights — hoping battleground states hear them

This combination photos shows Beyonce at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, March 14, 2021, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a CNN town hall in Aston, Pa., Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)