Rescuing Those Trapped by Flooding in Asheville

Hurricane Helene has left thousands homeless, trapped behind roads that have been washed out.

Although help is arriving, so many areas are cut off. Whitney Gorbett reports from Asheville:

“Our friend, Steve, Black Mountains Police Chief, has been up for 72 hours evacuating and rescuing. It’s catastrophic in Montreat and Swannanoa. Neighborhoods are gone from flooding or mudslides.

People that need to be rescued can’t call for help so they have no idea where to look. So many prayers are needed. My heart is so heavy.”

Chris Horvath describes getting help to the group of racers that were trapped in the mudslide.

By the grace of God,  in the middle of the darkness, after a hurricane- one tiny light was lit. As we drove by, I barely caught it from the corner of my eye. We turned around and followed the light up a hill to a hotel running off back up batteries.

The manager was closing the doors and said, “We’re over-full, we don’t have any more rooms.”

I replied, “We have a team that was rescued off the mountain and I just need to get them to safety. Do you know anyone who we could rent a bus from?”

He immediately asked, “How many and what happened?”

We explained, “A team of our World Racers had their cabins washed away and the building they were staying in collapsed. They escaped with only one broken ankle! We drove from Gainesville, GA because God told us to GO get the racers! So here we are!”

He said, “Give me 1 minute.” 

Meanwhile, the crowd in the lobby was listening to us tell the story and chimed in, “We will help…” 

The manager came back and said “come with me.” He escorted us into the hotel through the crowd and to the meeting room. He opened the door and asked, “Will this work?”

“Absolutely!!!!” I exclaimed. We returned to the lobby and four people with trucks said, “we will go.” 

The manager said “I have a truck too, I’m coming!”

UP THE MOUNTAIN WE WENT. Through mud, water, around trees, and even through a prison rec yard, we continued.

We got all 36 Racers and then we headed back down the mountain. We arrived to the hotel in waves of vehicles and were welcomed by a greeting party of strangers. Through prayer and networking, one of the Racer’s dad said “I can get a bus and a van. We will start driving.”

We gave them screenshot of our map to get in. They arrived 8 hrs later. God is so good. His protection was covering this squad. God’s grace and protection blanketed the entire journey and got us safely back to Georgia.

We have deployed every partner we know to Black Mountain! We have had over 50 partners help in some way. They have a good main stream of supplies coming in, but need sanitation supplies and places to sleep.”

Today Chris is in Florida and reports that St. Petersburg will be ground zero for Adventures Relief’s efforts there. Interested in helping? Thousands of volunteers will be needed to help bring relief and then helping the storm’s victims to rebuild. Your help is needed! More info here.