Hurricane Helen has left Americans across the Southeast stranded without electricity, water or cell phone service, leaving many homeless and even losing their lives. The devastation was unimaginable, and the Robertson family witnessed it all firsthand.
Al and Lisa Robertson were staying in Black Mountain and explained that the area received more than 20 inches of rain in two days before Hurricane Helen arrived.
“It was a perfect storm, and I say that in a negative way,” Al says. “This one had a little bit of bite to it.”
“At first I was just praying, please help us. Then I start praying for the people down there, because I think about when I'm going down the mountain. This is not good.”Lisa And I was staying in a small house almost near the top. I am praying because I was worried about a landslide,” he continued.
When morning arrived, Al recalls, “It felt like a battlefield.'' Then, after trying to get out of the mountain, they realized they were landlocked.
“About half a mile down Interstate 40, a landslide occurred,” he explains. “You can't go in this direction with all the trees and stuff on the road. So we're wondering if there's another way. No. Everything there is closed off.”
“So do you start thinking about what happens if you go south? No. We're closed. There's a river across the interstate,” he continued. “So we're going to take off north, climb to an altitude that's probably above the worst of the damage, cross over and then head east. We got to Tennessee and drove for a few hours, but the interstate is collapsing.”
“We are trapped and cannot get out,” he added. “We don't have a phone right now, we don't have electricity, we don't even have a place to stay. But we have families. So I'm thinking, I mean, there's a sense of helplessness that hits you in that moment, because I don't have gas. Because I have half a tank and no gas station.”
As others from out of town waited for seats to become available, Al recalls realizing those in electric cars were “doomed.”
“There is no electricity to power the car,” he explains.
But Al and Lisa see a sign of hope in a “redneck” who is prepared and uses it to help others.
“They helped other people. They would go to the neighbor's house [houses]And I saw truckloads of people just going everywhere to help,” Lisa says.
Tragically, approximately 1,000 people remain missing and more than 100 are confirmed dead.
“The final numbers are definitely going to be devastating,” Al says sadly.
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