A Georgia man is thanking God for narrowly avoiding death after being stranded in the North Carolina mountains during and immediately after Hurricane Helen devastated the state on September 27th.
Kyle Vargas of McDonough, Georgia, was visiting Ashland with his brother for work when he got stuck in the Tar Heel State and hiked 13 miles through the mountains on foot.
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“I looked around and saw trees everywhere, cars falling into sinkholes, objects breaking…I had never seen anything like that before. ” Vargas said. FOX 5 ATLANTA. “Oh, I could cry right now…He always let me see, he got me.”
Kyle Vargas and his brother evacuated Asheville on foot after Hurricane Helen out of fear for his wife. (Waga)
Along the way, Vargas said strangers offered to give them rides, which he recorded on video, and said God helped him find his way home to his wife. spoke. After Vargas' wife gave up on the search, the two arrived at their home without using GPS.
“We just knew God was sending people to us,” Vargas told FOX 5 Atlanta. “It only strengthened my faith in God.”
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The Vargas brothers were concerned about Kyle's wife and evacuated the area on foot after being stranded in the area for a day. Many mountain roads are now impassable due to fallen trees and landslides.
Vargas credits God with helping him return home safely after being affected by Hurricane Helen. (Waga)
“I didn't expect the storm to cause this much damage to the mountains,” Vargas told FOX 5 Atlanta. “Basically, we were trapped… we were stuck.”
The journey through the mountains took many hours, and the brothers could barely get through on the phone.
Kyle Vargas said he and his brother had to wash their boots in a nearby river to remove caked-on mud. (Waga)
Vargas told FOX 5 Atlanta: “I walked about 13 miles through trees, through mud that had slid onto the road from landslides, and had to wash my feet in the river.”
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The latest recorded death toll from Hurricane Helen is 225 at the time of publication.
