HENDERSONVILLE – Last Friday, Sept. 27, Joey McNeely dangled his 9-month-old daughter, Lilah, from the second-story window of his Hendersonville apartment before releasing her into the arms of a Henderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy. His wife, Brooke McNeely, watched nervously from higher ground.
After torrents of rain from Tropical Storm Helene flooded nearby Clear Creek, residents of Universal at Lakewood apartment complex told the Citizen Times flood waters quickly rose and started pouring into a row of units located on the backend of the complex, nearly reaching first-floor ceilings.
On Sept. 30, just a few days after Helene cut a path of destruction stretching from Florida to the mountains of Western North Carolina, pounding the region with heavy rainfall and flash floods, residents were assessing damage to their homes and belongings.
Joey, 40, and Brooke, 33, were trying to salvage the belongings they stored on the second floor of the apartment before the family’s rescue. Outside, Lilah was strapped to her stroller and Brooke wiped tears from her eyes.
“I was screaming and crying, and it was horrible,” Brooke told the Citizen Times, recalling the family’s rescue just a few days earlier.
Too frightened to jump from her apartment window to a paddleboard, Brooke said she scaled a portion of an exterior wall to a nearby overhang. She then lowered herself to a paddleboard, maneuvered into position by a woman named Faith, who took Brooke to higher ground where she watched the deputy rescue Lilah and bring her to safety.
Elsewhere in the region, others weren’t so lucky.
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Helene caused some of the greatest damage in Western North Carolina, with rivers sweeping away houses and crumbling bridges, and high winds felling trees. In Buncombe County, 40 deaths have been reported as of Sept. 30. In Henderson County, another six, though those numbers are likely to rise as the full scope of the tragedy becomes clearer.
Earlier in the day, two teenaged brothers, Malachi and Malek Barber, stood shirtless in the middle of Butler Bridge Road in Henderson County, near what used to be the banks of the French Broad River.
Before Helene, the French Broad snaked through the county’s farmland.
Now, it covers it.
Less than 2 miles away, cars were lining up along Asheville Highway waiting to reach Mills River Town Hall, where the county was setting up a water and food distribution point.
An hour before the site was set to open, Kaira Raynor, 26, stood next to her white Jeep Commander with her two young children, Galaxy, 5, and Serena, 2. The Mills River resident said she was waiting for food, having nearly run out after grilling everything that had been in the family’s freezer before Helene hit last week.
Now, the family needed more.
Hendersonville City Manager John Connet said that the county’s “hearts go out to everyone impacted” by the storm, as emergency services continue to complete rescues into the morning of Sept. 30.
With one of the highest rain totals in the region, 6 miles south of the city of Hendersonville received nearly 22 inches of rain following the impact of Tropical Storm Helene, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Doug Outlaw. A mile south of Hendersonville, NWS measures indicate more than 16 inches fell. The storm followed days of torrential rain and light downpours.
On Sept. 30, a line crew from Ontario, Canada, worked to restore power to county residents near Edneyville. The crew, composed of retired linemen, arrived in Henderson County before Helene hit and said they expect to be in the region for much of October.
More: Henderson County still reeling from historic Helene floods; Temporary distribution sites
Stephen Sine, 62, told the Citizen Times he’s been doing line work and responding to major storms for more than four decades. For Don Thompson, another crew member, it’s been five decades.
Both said that destruction in the wake of Helene is the worst they’ve ever witnessed.
“Devastation,” Thompson said.
‘More hope in humanity’
Throughout the county Sept. 30, portions of roadways had been washed out. The football stadium at East Henderson High School suffered severe damage. Cars were totaled by flood waters. Oak trees lay uprooted upon homes. A man lumbered up Asheville Highway with two full gas cans in his hands.
But through devastation, the community came together.
Henderson County resident Jerry Mullins told the Citizen Times he’s been going door to door with his portable generator, letting his neighbors plug in for an hour at time in hopes of keeping the food in their refrigerators and freezers from spoiling. But three days after the storm, he only had a little more than a gallon of fuel remaining.
Duke Energy said most customers in the region will have power restored no later than Friday evening, Oct 4.
But power won’t help the McNeely family, who said they’ll stay with family members in Gastonia.
On Sept. 30, a restoration crew was onsite waiting for residents like the McNeely’s clear out whatever was salvageable.
More: Outside Mission emergency room, families await word on loved ones impacted by Helene
Megan Guess, 24, and her fiancé Logan Sewell, 29, wore headlamps as they walked up and down the wet staircase to the second floor of their home, where they saved as much as they could before being forced to evacuate. Immediately afterward, like many of their neighbors, all the couple could do was help other residents in need.
Whether it was rescuing people and pets with paddleboards and kayaks or handing out dry towels or just offering a hug, Sewell told the Citizen Times the community really came together.
“It gave me a little bit more hope in humanity after that,” he said.
More: What is happening in Western NC? Here’s town by town look at the latest in areas hit by Helene
Jacob Biba is the county watchdog reporter at the Citizen Times. Reach him at jbiba@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: As Helene flooded Hendersonville homes, residents rescued neighbors
