That is sad to hear. I was in the same boat 2 years ago. I had to bush hog the garden to harvest. 200 plants that year and I only got a few milk crates out of there.
Sweet potatoes need plenty of water and once the weeds take over, its a lost cause.
I was at my local hardware store looking for collards to plant this week. They still had flats of sweet potatoes in cell packs left over that they kept watered. 8 inches tall with a leaf or two at the top.I pulled one out. It had an orange root trying to burst apart the cell. They want to make potatoes no matter what.