Swannanoa was hit hard - Hurricane Helene Aftermath

This video was filmed October 8th. You can see how bad things are after almost 2 weeks.

I talked to quite a few people affected in Swannanoa. It was too fresh and personal for them to speak on camera and I understand. The man who is now homeless on the river is living in that tent that was given to him. He told me his whole story of escaping this flood in the middle of the night - a common story for residents of Swannanoa at 4-6 in the morning during the thick of the storm. He had to rescue his dog, wake his roommates up to evacuate, wade through water, leave cars behind. He even stalled a car in the flood they tried escaping in so they had to abandon it. When he came back to his home that was gone, it was hard for him to comprehend it not being there.

Another man I spoke with was finishing up helping his neighbors all day. He spoke to me in front of his now gutted to the studs home, thanks to Samaritan's Purse's help. He was mentally exhausted - not just my words but his. He was broken. He was also running around in the middle of the night evacuating his wife and two kids while warning neighbors to get out. He asked me to come back as if he just needed a friend. I just listened for 20 minutes. He mentioned the need for heavy equipment and dump trucks because trash is piling up - not your normal trash but mounds of insulation, building material, debris. This is not a job for man - he can't move the new boat in his yard or the double wide that used to be on the other side of his house

Someone else told me that someone was boating around in the now much deeper river in the thick of the storm at night, telling people to get out ASAP - a true hero we may never know.

Another man told me how he heard people screaming who were now on a new river island in a mobile home who needed rescue and he went to their aid. You can go around to homeowners there and hear many of these stories. It was very serious and unexpected that night.

A lady at a church I spoke to with good word from Search and Rescue said there have been 394 bodies found in just Swannanoa. There is still an ongoing search and "recovery" for bodies. Some of those debris fields are not to be tampered with yet.

Swannanoa needs help. Please research this town and find a way to help through a legitimate organization. I'm concerned for the newly homeless people. Facebook is a good place to search for organizations. Samaritan's Purse is working hard there, too:

In the town at the end of this video is a tragic story of a small knit community. These seemed like very good salt of the earth people I talked to. Please don't go driving through their community. They just finished finding all 11 bodies in their community. A week ago, I was trying to locate someone for a concerned neighbor, and I helped determine her house was washed away, she was found, but her husband was still missing. He was one of the 11 found a few days ago - the community is at rest knowing their family members have been found. I ran into this couple's son by chance while I was at their fire station and he told me more. He was strong, having just lost his mother and father days ago. I was there to interview someone but couldn't find her. She lost her mother and father. I visited their church meeting a lady whose home was washed away while she was in it, and her husband was trying to rescue her, while being hit by a landslide. The stories here don't stop. Look how small a creek this town was next to. How could you ever even think about flood insurance or expect this to happen?! This community has a gofundme. PLEASE consider helping:

[MarkHuneycutt]

This video was filmed October 8th. You can see how bad things are after almost 2 weeks.

I talked to quite a few people affected in Swannanoa. It was too fresh and personal for them to speak on camera and I understand. The man who is now homeless on the river is living in that tent that was given to him. He told me his whole story of escaping this flood in the middle of the night - a common story for residents of Swannanoa at 4-6 in the morning during the thick of the storm. He had to rescue his dog, wake his roommates up to evacuate, wade through water, leave cars behind. He even stalled a car in the flood they tried escaping in so they had to abandon it. When he came back to his home that was gone, it was hard for him to comprehend it not being there.

Another man I spoke with was finishing up helping his neighbors all day. He spoke to me in front of his now gutted to the studs home, thanks to Samaritan's Purse's help. He was mentally exhausted - not just my words but his. He was broken. He was also running around in the middle of the night evacuating his wife and two kids while warning neighbors to get out. He asked me to come back as if he just needed a friend. I just listened for 20 minutes. He mentioned the need for heavy equipment and dump trucks because trash is piling up - not your normal trash but mounds of insulation, building material, debris. This is not a job for man - he can't move the new boat in his yard or the double wide that used to be on the other side of his house

Someone else told me that someone was boating around in the now much deeper river in the thick of the storm at night, telling people to get out ASAP - a true hero we may never know.

Another man told me how he heard people screaming who were now on a new river island in a mobile home who needed rescue and he went to their aid. You can go around to homeowners there and hear many of these stories. It was very serious and unexpected that night.

A lady at a church I spoke to with good word from Search and Rescue said there have been 394 bodies found in just Swannanoa. There is still an ongoing search and "recovery" for bodies. Some of those debris fields are not to be tampered with yet.

Swannanoa needs help. Please research this town and find a way to help through a legitimate organization. I'm concerned for the newly homeless people. Facebook is a good place to search for organizations. Samaritan's Purse is working hard there, too:

In the town at the end of this video is a tragic story of a small knit community. These seemed like very good salt of the earth people I talked to. Please don't go driving through their community. They just finished finding all 11 bodies in their community. A week ago, I was trying to locate someone for a concerned neighbor, and I helped determine her house was washed away, she was found, but her husband was still missing. He was one of the 11 found a few days ago - the community is at rest knowing their family members have been found. I ran into this couple's son by chance while I was at their fire station and he told me more. He was strong, having just lost his mother and father days ago. I was there to interview someone but couldn't find her. She lost her mother and father. I visited their church meeting a lady whose home was washed away while she was in it, and her husband was trying to rescue her, while being hit by a landslide. The stories here don't stop. Look how small a creek this town was next to. How could you ever even think about flood insurance or expect this to happen?! This community has a gofundme. PLEASE consider helping:

Marissa's parents, Terri and Freddie Pack, have been identified in the landslide that happened in Fairview from above. If you can donate anything at all to help Marissa and her family get through this horrific time, it would be a true blessing. Here is her gofundme:

[megtfor]

It’s so much worse than what’s being shown on national TV. I live in Hendersonville and the devastation in the area is horrific!! Please keep showing the rest of the country exactly what’s happened and is happening.

[RosaRJones]

Mark, your journalism is superb. Brave. Compassionate. Nonpolitical. Nicely edited. Deeply appreciated. Thank you for doing this. Hugs from Long Island, NY

[kevinross]

These videos could be one hour long and I would still watch them

[triciaford]

Mark, so glad we found your channel. My husband and I agree that you're bringing the real news to the people. So grateful.

[holleighlordel]

Everyone *please* read his Description of this video. Mark I could tell by the look on your face it was a deeply troubling day. I’m solemnly glad they found the husband of the woman you searched for last week. The trauma, the horror of knowing the debris piles are cemetaries and that it’s somebody’s job to carefully pick thru the piles two weeks later….. lifting up prayers for the mental health of the living. 🙏

[aquachonk]

Mark, back up these videos and then back them up again. These are historical fact. People will need them in the near future and down the line. Personal memories, climatologists, insurance companies, geologists, city planners, the state...this is valuable archiving you're doing here.

[thisisourchannel]

Thank you for your documentation. It's tasteful and honest. These people need true representation.

[semperfi]

Absolute best journalism to date. No opinions. Just reporting what's going on, on the ground. No spin, no politics, no biases. The way journalism used to be years ago in America. Look forward to your content. Keep us informed. My dad (in Wilkes County NC) said a pastor went up there to help and said it is way worse than anything TV or the Internet has shown. Said words and images can't be put this disaster into perspective, like seeing it with your own eyes.

[ARorHR]

Please keep posting. We cannot forget our fellow Americans. Keep this tragedy in your minds, this will take time. Love from the west coast.

[DaniABminus]

The devastation is so vast and beyond scale, it leaves you breathless. Thank you for documenting what you see!

[josephinethornton]

THANK YOU for getting to Swannanoa! My son was born there and seeing the area on the news I didn't even recognize a half block away from my house. Once the reality of what area I was looking at just dropped me to my knees.
(For locals: Old Lytle Cove Road)

For those who don't know the topography:
This isn't flooding area. Biltmore Village in Asheville, very pricey tourist place near the Biltmore estate, it flooded in parts during 2004.

Nobody builds anything in flood areas. Like, Amboy Road in Asheville flooded in 2004. But it used to be a race track. The city made it into a huge city park. It floods, no one dies. Same with the train tracks in the RAD (River Arts District).

THIS flooding is literally unthinkable. Little tiny creeks became rivers.

It's a temperate rainforest, y'all. Look closely on Google maps at ANY area. Not satellite, but where you can see the blue lines of tiny waterways. They are literally everywhere because gravity takes water DOWN from the peaks 4, 000 feet above.

That's why Chimney Rock basically blew out. It is a major choke point between steep areas before the river can make it down to the foothills.

Same with the Pigeon River going the other way. It took out the interstate. I've been up and down that interstate a million times and never saw the river. It's way way way down below the road. But it, like everything and everywhere else, had picked up SO MUCH DEBRIS from the mudslides before it made it there that it was a raging river filled with battering rams.

It's literally unprecedented.

[kootv]

The power of water is so unbelievable! This breaks my heart beyond belief.

[robinreece]

I lived in Swannanoa for 14 years and never dreamt this could happen. Thank you Mark for showing and sharing what has happened.

[luissanabria]

Please post more videos of the aftermath and the rebuilding efforts. Thanks for posting such great content. We’re praying for everyone.

[dianebeier]

Hi Mark, been very heavy hearted since all this happened. I thank you for your integrity. Compassion, truth. Old lady from U.P. of Michigan.❤❤❤😢😢😢

[aarondesrochers]

So many lives destroyed, so much pain and so much damage, and yet it takes two damaged Citroen 2CV cars to get me to shout out, Oh no. I live on a river, and we've been flooded twice, but not like this. This is exponentially worse. When we were flooded it was strangers coming to my door offering to help that lifted my spirits and gave me the drive to rebuild. Thank you Mark for getting these people's stories out, you are helping them more than you may know.

[Mcat]

I can't imagine the terror they must have felt. The devastation is unimaginable.
Thank you for sharing.. I don't think we'll ever truly comprehend. 🙏

[chickenfarm]

Thanks for documenting the area. The corporate media has moved on to hurricane Milton and the usual politics. Take care and stay safe and healthy for your baby and family.

[DanielWolfe-tj]

Thank you for the honest coverage. Thank you for listening, many of these people probably really needed that.