The dangerous flood waters of Helene prompted this team to jump into action.
BAT CAVE, N.C. — Bat Cave in Henderson County was hit especially hard when Helene ripped through western North Carolina in late September.
Many people, including first responders, were stranded there for days with no way out of the town.
Despite the predicament, a swift water rescue team that deployed to the area ahead of the storm helped so many people evacuate.
Dan Hayes is with the Henderson County Swift Water Rescue Team. He said the team tried to help people find safety after their homes were threatened by floodwaters.
“The water was already no other way to describe it, but violent and it was threatening homes. We went down every road that we could go down, 74 North and South.” Hayes said. “Number nine, coming into 74 and 64 coming down from Eddyville and tried to evacuate all the people whose homes were threatened.”
The efforts of the swift water rescue team and other first responders meant zero people were unaccounted for in the county.
With all the destruction and dangerous conditions, team members said they were lucky to be alive.
“We’ve all done quite a bit of swift water and we looked at, and we said anyone who goes in the river dies. Because at that point it wasn’t water, it was rocks the size of Tahoes. They were all rolling. It sounded like thunder for about 12 hours. From the initial flood of just the rocks and pieces of, of cars and debris rolling. It just turned the river into a meat grinder. So, anything that went in the river just came out in that sticks,” Tyler Upton, who is a member of the Henderson County Swift Water Rescue Team, said.
The team evacuated homes, provided shelter for families at the local fire department, and even gave what little food they had to anyone who needed it.
Even after all that and being stranded for three days in Bat Cave, they are continuing to assist those impacted by the storm.
Even with a long road ahead, many people here are thankful to have the opportunity to recover – because of the efforts of these rescuers.
