When Hurricane Helene’s deadly fury came ashore late last month, it brought with it a record-setting torrential disaster to residents in the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Homes vanished, roads became impassible, people were cut off and the confirmed death toll is still climbing. There would have been more fatalities, no doubt, were it not for the efforts of officers whose more routine duties include checking hunting licenses and conducting wildlife surveys.
North Carolina
The North Carolina Wildlife Commission (NCWC) issued a bulletin on Oct. 13 that explained, “Our N.C. Wildlife Resources Law Enforcement Swift Water Rescue Team was deployed to Western N.C. the Thursday prior to the storm hitting, providing life-saving rescues to people, sometimes even swimming into homes to locate victims.”
One of the more logistically challenging calls the officers responded to was for a sizeable landslide in an area where roads were washed away or buried. It required an eight-mile hike to save survivors from the floodwaters. Here’s a video of the team using a Stokes basket to haul one of the victims across a raging stream.
The NCWS news released stated, “The team has made well over 1,000 saves and welfare checks to date. Along the way, the team has been handing out small amounts of supplies and communicating current and imminent concerns of residents.”
Tennessee
Officers from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Association (TWRA) have also been hard at work saving lives and providing lifesaving supplies to survivors. The above photo, courtesy of TWRA, shows two of its team searching an abandoned home for survivors even before the water recedes or mudslides begin to dry.
All faced dangerous torrents and potentially deadly situations as they worked to prevent the death toll from climbing further. A video the agency posted on its Facebook page speaks volumes about the effort.
Bruin Aftershocks
Rescuers and workers who have arrived, along with those who somehow survived, now face a different peril. The weather has turned cold in the mountains, and gas, propane and electricity are still scarce commodities.
And, according to NCWC’s bulletin, it “…is receiving reports of an increase in human-black bear interactions in Asheville and Buncombe counties. Impacts from the hurricane on infrastructure and local government services are leading to increased opportunities for bears to find food due to the availability of trash, unattended donation drop-offs and the attractiveness of rotting foods, particularly in damaged homes and businesses.”
