Family who survived floods in North Carolina tells their story

As waters rose from Hurricane Helene, Andy Fyfe left his wife Chloe and their 1-year-old son Keleo in the attic of their house and waded over to his fourth-generation Appalachian neighbors’ home to help them evacuate.

Fyfe lives in the mountains above Asheville, North Carolina, an area hit hard by Helene. By the time Fyfe got out of his own home and over to his neighbors, the storm turned into a flash flood that redirected straight into their home.

“You immediately feel humble, powerless, and yet you have this conviction of doing nothing but supporting and being of service to your neighbors in that very moment,” Fyfe says. “It was hard to be doing that while knowing that my beloved and my baby were here next door in my own house because you're drawn between so many needs all at once.”

Fyfe and his neighbors Bob and Jane tried to hold the doors closed with their body weight, but the water still came rushing in. Furniture started floating, and heavy objects became like missiles.

“Just imagine your home, and all of a sudden, there is no gravity,” Fyfe says. “Imagine it just finding itself in outer space, and everything's just floating and moving incredibly quickly.”

Once Fyfe and his neighbors got out of the house, carrying the neighbors’ dogs on their backs, Fyfe returned his attention to his family.

With his neighbors shouting that a nearby dam was about to break from the water pressure, Fyfe got back to his house. He, Chloe and Keleo made it out just in time, and with Fyfe’s son on his back, the family hiked up the mountain with a group of other flood survivors.

“I don't think I've ever held him so tight and yet never felt so unsure at the same time,” Fyfe says.

Fyfe and his family have been staying at his sister-in-law’s house down the mountain in Asheville. In the aftermath of the flood, the family has been working around the clock to help their community members. They’ve been volunteering with BeLoved Asheville, a community aid organization.

Another organization that Fyfe and his neighbors have relied on is Asheville’s iHeartRadio station. The station has spotlighted people offering assistance, like a woman who opened her hair salon for people to wash up or take shelter in. Additionally, the station featured a group of nurses looking to dispatch to Asheville to help.

“It's been like a heartbeat of this community … It's just such a reminder of how much kindness and care there is,” Fyfe says. “People are literally sitting in their cars for hours at night just listening to feel hope.”

Robin Young produced and edited this segment for broadcast with Todd Mundt and Mark Navin. Grace Griffin adapted it for the web.