Hurricane Helene: A Story of Survival, Strength, and Rebirth

I’ll start with where we were and how we ended up in Greeneville.

Part 1

We were in Cape Cod, Massachusetts when Helene was still just a whisper of chaos far to the south churning, swelling, gaining power in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. She made landfall just southwest of Perry, Florida on September 24th and from there, all hell broke loose.

Helene didn’t just pass through, she tore her way across the Panhandle of Florida, ripping through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. By the time she stalled in the Appalachian region, she had transformed into a relentless, rain-soaked nightmare. Towns were wiped clean off the map. Roads vanished into landslides. Rivers defied their banks and carved out entirely new paths. The landscape was unrecognizable. People were missing. Others were miraculously saved. Entire communities were left reeling, clinging to each other as they began to piece their lives back together.

From the safety of our camper in Cape Cod, we watched it all unfold. The contrast was staggering; sun-drenched mornings and salt air for us, while just a few states away, people were clawing through the wreckage of their homes. It didn’t feel right to stay.

By the time we reached Newport, Rhode Island for our next planned stop, the decision was already made. We weren’t heading to Sleepy Hollow, NY anymore; we were headed south. We didn’t know exactly where. We didn’t know who we’d meet, or how we’d help, but we knew we had to go. That gut feeling was loud and undeniable: Do something.

We canceled every upcoming stop on our route and gave ourselves one week in Newport to get ready. That week became a whirlwind of planning, gathering, preparing equal parts adrenaline and emotion. We scoured stores for supplies, sometimes waiting in lines, sometimes bartering with strangers who were doing the same. I bought chainsaws, extra chains, two-cycle oil, and gallons of bar oil — I figured if roads were blocked and towns were buried in debris, we’d need to cut our way in.

We loaded up with cases of water, non-perishable food, first aid kits, and anything else we thought might make a difference. We didn’t know what would be available once we got there, or even where “there” wa, but we wanted to be ready for whatever we faced.

It felt like we were stepping into something bigger than ourselves, a mission fueled not by orders or assignments, but by instinct and compassion. We weren’t rescuers. We weren’t emergency crews. We were just people with time, tools, and a willingness to show up, and sometimes, that’s enough to make a difference.

Where were we going? Greeneville, TN……… We ended up here by chance. Lindsay got on Harvest Host to try to find somewhere to stay for 2 weeks which ultimately ended up being a little over 4 weeks. There aren’t many options in the far Northeast corner of TN to choose from. We decided on this region because all of the help was going into Asheville and surrounding areas, or at least that’s what we were led to believe based on mainstream news networks. We started to scour Facebook for new groups that were popping up; honestly, this was our best avenue for updated 1st hand information. We read countless posts about communities and towns that needed immediate help. That’s how we ended up in Greenville. Greenville was fairly central to many of the disaster areas and come to find out, there was the church called Crossroads Cowboy Church that was handling ALOT of the supply drops via truck and helicopter. We wouldn’t learn about the church until day 4 or 5.

We’re off to East TN! We left Rhode Island and travelled to our 1st stop outside of Philly, this was a frustrating travel day, we needed to get through New York City! New York City with a 45′ 5th wheel, long wheelbase truck, 4′ of bike rack hanging off the back of the camper and 2′ of bike rack hanging off the front of the truck! This was going to be FUN! We ended up having a minor accident on the Connecticut side, some guy slammed on his brakes and I just couldn’t get stopped in time. I hit the guy at a whopping 12mph!!!! Anyhow, that was a bit of a setback, but it was handled and we were back on the road.

Day 2, we left Philly and next stop…….. Stone Bridge Equestrian Center outside of Roanoke, VA! This place was beautiful and peaceful. The owner was so accomidating and kind. We only stayed 1 night but could have stayed much longer if given the chance! We use Harvest Host a good bit while we’re travelling, its great because we can stay at horse farms, wineries, breweries, and so much more. All places available on Harvest Host are verified and must meet certain HH standards.

Day 3, we pulled out of Stone Bridge and our ETA was around 1:30pm in Mosheim, TN. Initially we were only going to be here for 2 weeks. But as the days went on and as we made connections we determined that we wanted to stay longer. Our 1st stay ended up being 4 and half weeks.

We had no idea where we were going to volunteer, but we scoured social media to figure out where the cry for help was coming from. Turns out that cry was coming from everywhere. By chance, we stopped by the old Greeneville skating rink, where we met some truly great people like Kim “Kritter” Malone and Pastor Tim and his wife Jennifer Goss! I’ll talk more about these amazing people as we make our way through this disaster aid volunteer series.

Hurricane Helene 2024

Now for the story! On September 27, 2024 Hurricane Helene attacked Western NC and East TN (along with many other areas). This was being called a “1,000 year flood”. This storm literally tore the region apart. While in Massachusetts when the storm made landfall, we started discussing our options to continue with our plans or start cancelling them to head south to help. Once we arrived in Newport, RI; this is when we started to see all of sadness unfold over the news outlets and over social media. We immediately started to look for Facebook groups and learned quickly that all of the attention was being directed to Asheville & Western NC. There wasn’t much coverage in Western VA or East TN. After about a half day of seeing the devastation and the crys for help, we cancelled all of our next stops.

We spent the week buying supplies and figuring out the route, because we didn’t know what was going to be available and we didn’t know where we we’re going to stay yet either, but we were definitely heading south! We ended up using Harvest Host and found McMillan Farms in Mosheim, TN where Mrs. Pam had a few camp sites available on her farm, we stayed there for 4.5 weeks.

There were several groups organizing supply warehouses, but with that, came mass confusion in many areas. We ultimately were connected with the perfect people of Crossroads Cowboy Church. The first few days we spent working in the warehouse to get an idea of what we were getting ourselves into. Lindsay worked the front door intake and this is where she met Ryan Mendelson. Ryan and Robin would become very special to us, I’ll get to their story soon.

It’s extremely humbling to be able to be in the position to drop what we were doing to go help!

We had become good friends with Kritter; this woman is amazing and can make things happen! She also has a camper at Kinser Park in Greeneville. Kinser Park is directly on the Nolichucky River and it was destroyed as well. I’d say 75% or more of this park was affected. Kritter asked us to go check her camper out to see if it was salvageable. Amazingly her camper had very minimal damage and what’s more amazing, her site is river front and the only damage I could find was: a dent where the porch was pushed into the camper, a small amount of water did get in but it was only in a small area around the back door, and one of the pier supports was washed out. Every camper around hers had been washed away entirely.

The Mendelsons

These 2 fine folks were high-water rescued from the 2^nd story window of their home. They watched as the water rose to fill the ditch, then it rushed down the basement stairs to blow out the door, then it crept up the front steps then eventually the water followed them up to the 2^nd floor where it was waist deep before they were able to get out. It was dark out and the battery levels on their phones were draining fast. They held on to each other and began to say their goodbyes because they had no idea what was going to happen next. Darkness had fallen then they saw a faint light off in the distance, it was a life raft! The water was so high that the neighbor’s barns were floating in their front yard and as the raft approached, they began to climb out of the window off into the murky water and had to push off the roof of one of the barns to get in the life rafts. The rescuers managed to save Ryan, Robin, their 2 Great Danes, 2 Blue Macaws, and 5 Weiner dogs. Other surviving members of the Mendelson zoo are Jack the donkey, Midnight the horse and 5 chickens. Sadly, they lost 30+ chickens, their beloved cat Moon Pie and 1 horse (Buttercup).

We met Ryan by chance one day at the warehouse, he came in looking for hay and feed for Jack and Midnight and a pair of muck boots. Lindsay being the amazing volunteerer she is, piped up and said, “We have a truck, we can go get the hay and feed”. She found me and Aiden in the warehouse and said come on, we gotta go get hay! So, we followed Kritter to the Greenville Fair Grounds. We loaded up 16 large bales of hay and several bags of feed then followed Ryan to his house. The house was still standing but the team working in there had already gutted most of the 1^st and 2^nd floor. For the next 3.5 weeks, we worked directly with Ryan and Robin to make sure they had what they needed and were taken care of.

Ryan had purchased a 5^th wheel camper from a guy who was not the most honest of folks. This guy delivered the camper and parked in the middle of the mud then set it up on some crappy center blocks that collapsed about 2 hours after he left. At this point, Lindsay and I looked at each other and said “This is why we ended up in Greenville”. Ryan had no idea what he was getting into with this camper and yet here we come rolling up, a family that lives full-time in a camper and has dealt with many of the issues it would later face.

It’s impossible to put the first 4.5 weeks in words. We made several deliveries to some of the most devastated areas, and we made some amazing connections that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. But our work in Greeneville isn’t complete yet!

If you ever are in the position to volunteer your time and resources to disaster aid, please do so! It will forever change you! I can’t unsee the things I’ve seen nor can I unsmell the smells; it’s truly heartbreaking and amazing at the same time! And I can only imagine what the 1^st responders went through and are still going through. There are still many people missing, our heart goes out to those with missing loved ones and we truly hope they get the closure they deserve. We have heard some amazing stories of survival, heartbreaking stories of loss, amazing stories of rescues, and stories of true heroism such as Boone McCrary’s story.

To Be Continued……..