By Becky Johnson
The Mountaineer
HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. — As soon as the skies cleared from Helene’s ferocious storm, a massive undertaking was launched to knock on the door of every home in Haywood County impacted by flooding and landslides.
Firefighters from the county’s 13 fire departments led the charge, fanning out in their communities to check on the wellbeing of residents. Fresh off a harrowing 12 hours of life-saving rescue missions, they pivoted quickly into reconnaissance mode.
Dozens of landslides and scores of washed-out roads and bridges had trapped and isolated people in their homes.
“You had places blocked in where they could only get out by foot,” said Maggie Valley Fire Chief Scott Sutton. “We cut a lot of trees out of roads just to gain access. We wound up with 26 landslides.”
And time was of the essence. With no cell, phone or internet, these trapped residents had no way to call for help.
“We wanted to make sure we didn’t miss anybody, so we checked and double-checked,” Sutton said. “We just divided it up.”
The operation ran around the clock, assessing who was trapped, who needed evacuation and who needed supplies. Police officers worked in tandem with firefighters to check on folks and ferry supplies to homes during the ensuing days.
“We were probably averaging 75 welfare checks a day,” Sutton said.
During the height of the storm, the Maggie fire department had conducted one swift-water rescue after another, saving two dozen people in all. But that was only the beginning as the rescue operations shifted to higher elevations.
“Most of our people stayed here through the whole thing. They all just laid in there and worked,” Sutton said.
And in proper Southern fashion, people showed up at the fire department in droves bearing food to keep the first responders fed. Cataloochee Ranch even brought a food truck.
“It was a big community effort,” Sutton said.
The Saturday morning after the storm, the fire department went to Best Buy to get a Starlink, a satellite-based internet service. They then connected their phone system to Wi-Fi, and the calls started rolling in.
“People wanting to know where to bring supplies, people needing help, people wanting to know if their vacation homes were going to be OK to come at Christmas,” Sutton said.
In addition to Jonathan Creek swamping its banks, every little branch carrying water down the mountainside became a raging torrent. When the water reached the valley, culverts along Soco Road spilled over.
“The water overwhelmed it, and the drains just couldn’t handle it, so the five-lane became a pond. It was impassable in places,” Sutton said.
Foot and rope rescues in Camp Branch
Maggie firefighters weren’t alone. In every fire district across the county, a similar operation played out.
In Waynesville, firefighters hiked through the woods and scrambled over landslide rubble to conduct door-to-door recon in the decimated Camp Branch area as soon as day broke the Saturday after the storm.
“People couldn’t get out, and there was no cell service. So they didn’t have any communication with the outside world. When they saw us, we were their lifeline,” said Waynesville Fire Captain Doug Smith.
Some were evacuated on foot, some on ATVs. One elderly couple was even lowered to safety using ropes, known as a high-angle rescue.
“We went as far as we could go in vehicles, but there were four to five major landslides. Roads are just gone. The damage is massive,” Waynesville firefighter Gabe Burch said of the Camp Branch area.
One woman had injured her leg while trying to hike out herself before firefighters arrived. With roads impassable, rescuers had to go cross country.
“We took her across the mountain, through the woods and met our UTV (utility terrain vehicle) that came up Lickstone through Browning Branch to evac her out,” Burch said.
Meanwhile, Waynesville firefighters were also systematically working their way along the path of flooding in the town.
“We tore apart bundles of debris, we went inside structures, we searched vehicles — looking for somebody that may have been missed. We don’t want to leave anyone out there that may have been hurt or injured or worse,” Smith said.
Teams started at the Waynesville Rec Park and searched both sides of the creek bank, working their way upstream along Richland Creek, Allens Creek and Browning Branch, all the way through town.
“We did it systematically to make sure we hit every residence and every building, shed and vehicle,” Smith said.
They gained entry any way they could — sometimes wriggling through holes busted out by the flooding.
“Some doors were unlocked, but you might have washers and driers and refrigerators washed up against them, so you have to push that stuff clear and then crawl in there,” Smith said.
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