Family’s harrowing escape from Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters

FAIRVIEW, N.C. (WLOS) — Time was of the essence for one family who faced the rising floodwaters from Hurricane Helene head-on and, through quick thinking and sheer bravery, made it out to safety.

It was Friday, Sept. 27, the morning after Hurricane Helene ripped through the Western North Carolina region, when Carrie, who asked News 13 to remain anonymous, said she and her family were removing debris and trees off their property.

Carrie told News 13 it was then that the floodwaters from Gap Creek in Fairview, N.C., began rising rapidly.

“The water was just getting deeper and deeper,” said Carrie. “So we decided, ‘Okay, everyone has got to get out of the house.”

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With no time to waste, Carrie said she and her boyfriend began to act quickly.

“I went to my neighbors and was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to bring the kids up here,” said Carrie. “When I was walking back down the driveway, around the curve, and I made it halfway to the kids — the water was too strong and knocked me over, and I kind of floated back to that truck.”

Carrie said while attempting to leave the waters then caught her daughter, who nearly drifted away as the waters continuously rose. With two other children in her boyfriend’s arms, Carrie said he was forced to improvise to save her.

He put them in the trees and knew he had to get to her faster,” said Carrie. “It was too strong — he knew if he carried them, he would fall from that strong water.

Carrie said her daughter was able to safely make it out of the rushing waters, but there was still a race against time, as there were still two other children in the tree.

Realizing the urgency of the situation, Carrie said that’s when she and her boyfriend sought help from their next-door neighbor.

“He was able to get the rope to the tree and tie it around the tree, and he put them on his back,” said Carrie. “He walked them back over here, which is when somebody came from the road with a jon boat and put them in the boat.”

Carrie said she and her family’s legs were beaten by the numerous things floating in the water, telling News 13 her boyfriend’s legs were “completely scabbed up” after the cuts he sustained while saving the children.

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As the rains inundated the area, the family’s home was swept away by the relentless floodwaters.

“It is probably about an eighth of a mile to a quarter of a mile that way,” saidCarrie about her family’s home. “It makes a trail behind everybody’s yard — [the house is] over through those like big trees; I’m not sure how it did it.”

Although Hurricane Helene left the family with nothing to salvage from their home, Carrie said she remains strong and chooses to reflect on “what truly matters.”

“We lost all of our things, but we didn’t lose us,” said Carrie.