Man hikes 11 miles and 2,200 feet high to reach his parents in North Carolina

CNN

By Dianne Gallagher and Michelle Watson, CNN

(CNN) — It had been 48 hours since the winds and rains from Hurricane Helene ripped through western North Carolina and Sam Perkins still had not heard from his parents.

So, on Saturday morning, he got in his vehicle and started driving toward their home, nestled on a mountain between Spruce Pine and Little Switzerland, to find them.

“My parents live in an absolute gem of the North Carolina mountains,” Perkins said in a post about his experience. The area is about an hour’s drive from Asheville. “Under normal circumstances, it’s pleasantly very isolated,” he added.

“Little did I know that up there, Helene has demolished roads, homes and utility networks. This area is completely cut off from resources in every direction.”

More than 100 people are dead after Helene tore through the southeastern United States, including at least 30 in Buncombe County, where Asheville sits, according to CNN’s tally. North Carolina was hit hard: Days of unrelenting flooding have turned roads into waterways, left many stranded without basic necessities and strained state resources.

Gov. Roy Cooper called it “one of the worst storms in modern history.” While supplies have been deployed, at least 280 roads are still closed throughout the state, making it hard for officials to get them into areas in need, Cooper said.

When he realized how many roads were cut off, Perkins said, he left his vehicle near a closed highway at the bottom of the mountain and started hiking to his parents’ home.

“I tried every road route I could, but the roads, no matter where you go, are blocked by landslides or failures,” Perkins explained to CNN. “I can’t tell you how many failing roads and deep mudslides I had to cross, how many fallen trees I had to take off my backpack for and navigate through.”

While hiking, Perkins said, he ran into multiple people trapped due to the devastated highway. For more than three and a half hours, Perkins said he hiked 11 miles and 2,200 feet high to finally reach his parents’ home.

“I have never been so relieved to see anyone OK,” Perkins told CNN, adding his parents are in their 70s, but pretty resourceful people.

“I just hugged them, cried, filled them in on all the news they were missing … walked around the property, helped them decide how to approach some challenges.”

Perkins found his parents in decent health and their home was mostly fine, but they were effectively trapped, unable to hike down the mountain on foot, he said.

“They have food. They are pretty much out of water, but they have enough propane to boil once they start needing to,” Perkins told CNN on Sunday, noting power restoration may take weeks for their area.

After he found his parents on Saturday, fog and rain settled in and Perkins decided to head back down. “I didn’t want to use their supplies, so I went ahead and decided to trek back,” Perkins explained, adding on the way down, he was even able to hitch a ride on an undamaged portion of a road with someone in the community.

And that community is strong, he said: “Everything you would expect with Southern Hospitality.”

His mother was able to a send him a message earlier Sunday, and it mostly focused on trying to get supplies for her neighbors.

“I’m still processing it all. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Perkins said. “Power is a couple weeks out. I cannot fathom how long it will take (the Department of Transportation) to repair the curvy roads that hug the steep mountainsides.”

‘The life that we built here is gone’

Just east of Buncombe County and the hard-hit city of Asheville lies McDowell County, where over 20 air rescues have been conducted since early Saturday morning, the county’s emergency management said in a news release Saturday.

The heavy rains caused the Swannanoa River to overflow its banks and flood McDowell and other counties across the region.

Jim and Allie Bourdy had moved into their Beacon Village home, located next to the river, just shy of eight years ago. When the Swannanoa surged and flooded, it destroyed everything they owned.

The couple and their dog were forced to climb onto their neighbor’s roof for safety, Jim Bourdy told CNN Sunday.

“We lost literally everything,” Jim Bourdy said. “We lost both our cars, and a small utility camper. The life that we built here is gone.”

They tried to evacuate Friday evening, but flooding made the roads impassable, Bourdy said. Unable to bypass the flood waters, the couple and their dog, Piper, retreated home to gather supplies and plan their next move.

But soon after, the water started seeping in.

“We were on our front porch and the water was waist high,” said Bourdy, who by this point had strapped Piper to his back.

As the water continued to rise, the couple knew their only shot at survival was to climb their neighbor’s roof, which was lower than theirs. They were able to use two Styrofoam exercise boxes as flotation devices to make their way over.

While on the roof, they called 911 but were told that no one could come to rescue them, Bourdy said.

About an hour later, a neighbor came on a kayak and took them one-by-one to higher ground.

“The moment we reached high ground, I knew that the only two things that matter in my life are my wife and my dog,” Bourdy recalled.

They then went to another neighbor’s house to dry off and change clothes. That evening, Bourdy said, they spent a night in a shelter. The following morning, they were able to contact a close friend with whom they are now staying.

Bourdy returned to the home on Sunday to see what he could salvage. But besides some cans and camping gear, everything would end up getting tossed out, he said.

“Honestly, literally everything is just gone,” he said. “[Flood water] was up to the gutters.”

‘We have no power, no running water, no cell reception’

Clutching firewood in her hands, Meredith Keisler, a school nurse in Asheville, told CNN: “We’re collecting wood because we have a grill, to make fire, to cook food.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Keisler added, noting she has no water, power or cell service.

It’s a sentiment echoed by many in the community.

Michelle Coleman, the executive director of a religious outreach organization called Asheville Dream Center, told CNN that she’s never seen Asheville in this state before.

“This is the most devastating thing I’ve ever seen in our whole city,” Coleman said. “Our prayer is that people are just not losing hope because our community is coming together. Asheville is a strong community.”

Gary O’Dell, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, told CNN Sunday was the first day he could leave his East Asheville home due to the debris. But he emphasized: “The neighbors have been great. We have a good neighborhood.”

He said he’s been sharing his oxygen tank with a neighbor. “My next door neighbor ran out of oxygen. He’s in worse shape than I am,” O’Dell, who has lung cancer, said. He added his daughter lost her home due to the flooding.

“There’s just so many people in worse shape than me and we’re lucky, we’ve got our home and we’re dry and safe,” O’Dell added.

Lucy Tavernier, who is part of a group helping clean up, said the area “looks like the bottom of a river.”

It’s covered “in litter and trees and mud, and it’s stinky,” she said.

On her front lawn, Tavernier recalled seeing what she believed were materials from a shop she used to visit near her home. She said she believes the place may have washed away in the storm.

CNN’s Sara Smart, Isabel Rosales, Rafael Romo, Jade Gordon, Sharif Paget, Ashley R. Williams, Raja Razek and Zoe Sottile contributed to this report.

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