BOONE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Appalachian State University resumed normal operations Friday after the campus operated at reduced capacity in the weeks since Hurricane Helene hit Boone and surrounding communities. Students resumed classes on Oct. 16, but some campus services were running reduced hours or staffing levels. Interim Chancellor Dr. Heather Norris said officials spent the past several weeks inspecting campus buildings and facilities. She said several buildings were flooded, trees had fallen, and silt had come in with the waters, but engineers declared every facility is structurally sound. App State student describes near-death experience after tree falls on flooding car “The nice thing that we learned through all of that assessment is that all of our residence halls were structurally sound and our students were safe who decided to remain on campus,” Norris said. “One of the best pieces of news that we got through our assessments is that we didn't have any fatalities. We didn't have any active missing reports of any students, faculty and staff.” Norris said one of the biggest challenges in getting the campus prepared for regular operations was in communication through sporadic internet connection. “As we were talking about safely resuming classes, some of the questions that we were thinking through was, ‘Okay, is this in person, is this hybrid, is this remote?’” she said. “It really didn't make a lot of sense for us to just do what we were able to do in the past during COVID by putting classes online. It wasn't a one-size-fits-all solution.” She applauded the efforts and determination of staff and faculty members to continue providing not only educational materials but support for their students. MORE FROM QCNEWS.COM Helene Aftermath Hurricane Helene: How the National Weather Service worked to save lives Concert for Carolina: How funds from Hurricane Helene relief concert will help Western NC App State football, normal operations return to Boone one month after Helene The student union served as a hub for disaster relief and supplies in the days immediately following the storm. Norris reports the App State Disaster Relief Fund raised more than $3.8 million and distributed it to more than 5,000 students, faculty, and staff members who had financial losses. K.C & Jenna talk Andy Dalton, NFL game picks, NASCAR on ‘Talkin’ Sports’ “A lot of kind people from our alumni base to parents to employees of the university giving themselves to sister institutions in the Sun Belt, sister institutions in the UNC system, and kind strangers who just read about our story and wanted to help because they'd had similar experiences, or they'd never had a similar experience and just had a heart to do it,” Norris said. This Saturday’s home football game will be the first contest the Mountaineer team has played at home in 37 days. It was originally scheduled as the university’s homecoming game, but officials moved the celebration to the final home game on Nov. 23. Athletic Director Doug Gillan said officials are pivoting homecoming into “homegiving” and encouraging all Appalachian State supports to donate to local businesses and charities. “There's a lot of recovery that needs to happen. That's going to take a long, long time up here. We're going to come and sit in the stadium that wasn't impacted that much. It's going to look like Helene wasn't here, but in the county, it was,” he said. Attendees at Saturday’s game can donate to Boone County Chamber Foundation or Silent Givers. Gillan said it was important to him and the other university leaders to be cognizant of how to host big events again that won’t harm the parts of the community still focused on rebuilding. “Mountaineer football is really important to the student body. Over 10,000 students come to every one of our games. So that was part of the decision. But certainly, what is our community going through? What is our town and the counties around us that are all part of this high country community? What they're going through is different in different places. So again, we wanted to be respectful, thoughtful, and helpful,” he said. Kick-off against Georgia State will be at 1 p.m. Gillan said it gives supporters an opportunity to also get to Charlotte in time for the Concert for Carolina at Bank of America Stadium that evening.