Hurricane Helene Mountain City Tennessee September 25-27

[@rosejohnson9957]

Weren't you paranoid staying in the house? That porch could have just went off anytime along with the house

[@thomasmint1761]

Same question. Amazing video, but why did you stay there?

[@dragonsburn2428]

@@thomasmint1761 it was a flash flood and in minutes we were completely surrounded by 4 feet of raging rushing water

[@thomasmint1761]

@@dragonsburn2428 Understand. But wasn’t the risk of flooding forecasted and people advised? I know it was in Waynesville

[@lpe655]

Just when u thought it couldn't possibly get worse......and it did. I just burst into tears when I saw that excavator. Thank God y'all take care of yourselves!!

[@Lonnie-s3l]

I don't know you but I cried my eyes out watching this. I left my home before the water hit my embankment but my aunt stayed in her home and water came in at 4ft and she only has one leg. My pregnant cousin put her on the sink and her animals. Her and her 8 yr old son were on the couch and I just can't imagine being inside while water was raging inside my home like that. It was literally a river. Just absolutely terrifying. I know how traumatizing this is. I had a complete mental breakdown about two weeks later it just became overwhelming. It was a dark blanket of sadness. I hope and pray for you and your family. I'm sorry to have vented on your post.

[@billmyer2990]

MY NIECE IS BACK HOME IN OHIO THEY LOST EVERYTHING DOWN THERE JUST A SLAB LEFT BUT THEY ARE SAFE.

[@tomarmadiyer2698]

Don't apologize, neighbor. Your sharing helps others. Greetings from Carter County and all of my love.

[@tomarmadiyer2698]

I don't reckon they'll have 321 back up for years.

[@bubbamoran2964]

Why did they NOT move vehicles to higher ground? Just stand there n watch things float away... I don't get it

[@ronburdick5346]

Agree! Why did they not leave!!!?

[@roseanneroseannadanna9651]

You ever think that maybe there was no way out? You ever been to that part of the country? You ever been in a hurricane, flash flood, tornado, wild fire? Get real.

[@dragonsburn2428]

It happened in minutes. Trees had fallen behind the vehicles and 4-5 feet high water was raging all around us. We only had time to get our dogs inside the house. Boulders the size of wheelbarrows were hitting our house and cars there was no practical way to get in that water without being washed away or killed by the rocks

[@jambocoo]

Heartbreaking to watch, prayers to all from West Virginia 🙏

[@Lonnie-s3l]

You got the best coverage on the wind I've seen, that's exactly what the wind looked like at my house! I've never seen rain come down sideways. It would come and then it would dump, it sounded like someone was dumping a bathtub of water over my trailer every cpl minutes. I knew it was bad but I never imagined how bad it was going to get. Prayers to you and your family. This has been so traumatic

[@agds91078]

I’m so sorry you all had to go through this, here in southeast Kentucky back in July 2022 we endured this same situation 😢

[@Lonnie-s3l]

I live in Hampton I knew Boone got hit hard but haven't heard much about mtn city. Our region hasn't had much news coverage at all. It was the scariest day of my life. I'm glad your okay, prayers

[@rogerward8629]

The scariest footage I've seen. I'm sorry that this happened to you. I pray you can find peace someday.

[@Lonnie-s3l]

My experience was: First you're thinking about damage to your home, then it's "all my shit I've worked for all my life for is about to be lost" I made a pile of personal items like expensive purses, shoes, just dumb stuff I was going to try and save if I had to go, I put my cat in a crate and my dog on a leash and watched the water rise. I had nowhere to go. I brought my animals to the car and realized I didn't have time to go back and get anything else. All my medications my coat, nothing but what I had on. I tried to go up one road but a tree had fell and took out three cars with it. I went up another road and it was too flooded to get thru. About that time I was panicking. Had no cell reception either. Keep in mind we live in the mountains! High in the mountains! I didn't think flooding was a thing here! Finally I go into my town just as the water was coming thru from the major river source. Behind my house is a small creek but it had topped when I left which was at noon on Friday. The water in town lifted homes of the foundation and ppl were screaming and crying and we horrifically watched the water rise over mailboxes thinking we were safe parked at the local dollar general. After what it did on down the road

[@osuwx04]

Thats a well built house. The forces exerted on that home were intense and it didnt float awat.

[@kathrynelkin1519]

I’m trying to understand why you didn’t evacuate living this close to the water. You are lucky to have survived.

[@dragonsburn2428]

It was a tiny stream before the hurricane hit. The culverts above our property burst out of the stream bed. Our road was a raging river in minutes with trees down all around us. Truthfully we thought that the worst had passed us.that morning We have 9 dogs and there was no way to leave them behind and our vehicles were already trapped

[@myd0gr3x]

what did it look like the day before? was there a creek nearby?

[@DeniseTerrell-oy5tm]

Terrifying! 💝

[@bobhomer5008]

I my mind, if it were my house I think i would have a heart attack from the stress and loss. This is just heartbreaking. To think our lame duck government has abandoned you folks, yet they send have enough $$$ to send overseas is criminal! Prayers for all who have suffered loss from the hurricane.

[@juliegauck9646]

Why can’t the government and state come in and help these poor people? This is so shameless that this happened to them and they were left and forgotten about for days. Shame on all these people to do this to them.

[@averygentry35]

That Kabota took licking and kept on ticking! That thing fire up and run after all that?

[@dragonsburn2428]

Incredibly it did and has been a life saver. We had over 4 feet of rocks settle in our yard and he’s used it to move them all.

[@tstuckey9436]

I am surprised that you are still alive

[@AdamG.GoNavy.FlyNavy]

@5:40 why are you still there? Are you possessions worth your life. I do get it. It’s hard to leave everything behind. But you being there will change nothing about what will happen except now you have placed your life in peril. Hope all did well but the evidence of what was happening was being filmed by you.

[@dragonsburn2428]

The road was gone and there was no escape. It happened in seconds. I thought by videoing it would help with my insurance claim lol only to find out it was not covered. I hope to God you are never in a situation like this

[@Carolb66]

Just terrifying ❤😮

[@spicencens7725]

😭💔🙏🏻🇺🇸

[@busyyogurt5206]

In hindsight I think it's very easy to say WTF did you not leave? The fact that they strapped the AC to the house thinking that would do anything shows that they were not thinking clearly. Nothing remotely like this had ever happened in anyone living's lifetime. I hope that vids like these will help demonstrate to ppl in that area / any mountain area that when you see muddy water moving that fast, it means a lot more is on the way. Even in the desert there can be a blue sky where you are, but a shit ton of rain at higher elevation. All of that water is flowing to lower elevations. Havasuipai (sp) Valley flood in 2024 demonstrates this in a desert canyon environment. These folks are lucky to be alive and I am sure they realize that.

[@dragonsburn2428]

Yes we are very lucky. You are actually looking at 3 days there. The first night we had the terrible rains and the next day the county came in and cleaned up. We strapped the ac down the first night because our bank was giving away. We thought it was over. We had already lost power and had no idea how much it was raining in NC The morning of the 27th I got up at 7:30. My dogs started barking and at first there was a trickle of water. By the time I yelled at my husband to come out a round road tile culvert a 1/4 mile above us exploded into the air and landed above our red building and in seconds we were completely surrounded by water without boulders as big as wheelbarrows shooting towards our house. We are incredibly lucky

[@SherryRadway]

Never build in a flood plain. Might be beautiful but…..

[@JamieNicole729]

Areas that were not in flood zones still flooded…..

[@dragonsburn2428]

We were not in a flood plain. This was a flash flood that came out of the mountains above us

[@tstuckey9436]

On another website, the sheriff said that you only got 4 hours of rain in Mountain City Tennessee. That does not even compare to what WNC received. You guys got lucky in comparison. Your house is a tear down, you can not fix it as it has been undermined from the force of the water. You could have been washed down that creek turned river within minutes. You were very foolish.

[@dragonsburn2428]

You have no idea what you are talking about. There was no option for us. The road had washed away the first day and we could not leave

[@wademacdougall1600]

Your God is washing away all your sense