It rained so hard that parts of western North Carolina are still underwater after what is being called a “once-in-a-thousand-year rainstorm.”
Asheville, Boone, and other nearby towns were hit hard by Hurricane Helene’s floods and mudslides. The sheriff of Buncombe County stated that the storm killed at least 30 people. The number of deaths in North Carolina is expected to go up.
The student Winn Brooks from Midlothian, Virginia, got video of some of the floodwaters coming into Boone.
“It looked and felt like a war zone. There were sounds all over the place. It was like everyone was going crazy. “It was heartbreaking, to say the least,” Brooks said.
Brooks said that the power went out in his dorm and that trees and floodwaters destroyed the homes and cars of some of his friends.
“At first, I saw floods everywhere and thought, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy.'” Then we go outside and see a 10-foot sinkhole that leads to the music venue right next to my room. They were yelling at us that it was about to fall apart at any moment. “The dorm next to mine caught fire while we were outside,” Brooks said. “It felt like ‘The Purge.'”
It took Brooks about a day to get out of Boone after the storm was over. He had to drive through a lot of trash to get back to Central Virginia.
There will be no classes until at least next Friday.
“I didn’t think it would hurt as much as it did.” I was on a walk with my friends two days ago, and we all said, “Oh, this is so nice.” “Then it’s crazy how everything was destroyed in an instant,” Brooks said.
People in other parts of Virginia are waiting to hear from family and friends who might not have made it out of the woods.
One of Shannon Lowry’s best friends lives in Burnsville and she hasn’t heard from her since Friday morning. Lowry lives in Williamsburg.
“It’s the unknown; we don’t know.” Lowry said, “We don’t know anything.”
Because of the storm, almost all roads in western North Carolina are stopped. Lowry said she’s been checking news sites and social media all the time for details.
“There’s no way to get to them unless I walk a mountain or use a helicopter,” he said.
On Sunday, the office of Gov. Youngkin said that more than 70 people were saved in Southwest Virginia, and government help is on the way.
Five shelters are staffed by the Red Cross, which is giving out more than 100 emergency supply kits and at least 1,000 meals.
The Red Cross says that because of the storm, about 1,500 blood donations in the southeast had to be delayed.
People who can give blood or materials to field teams are being asked to do so by the Red Cross.
Videos show Mountain Island Lake, North Carolina, being flooded very badly. People in North Carolina can call 211 or go to nc211.org to find out about new tools and “check-in” lists that may have the names of their loved ones on them.
People from other states can call 1-888-892-1162 to check on family and friends in North Carolina.