Were you impacted by Hurricane Helene? Share your stories with us below. If you’re struggling, consider therapy with our sponsor. Click betterhelp.com/maxolson for a discount on your first month of therapy. DONATION LINKS Team Rubicon donate.teamrubiconusa.org/Donation/vd24-wbp/ Hearts With Hands www.heartswithhands.org/ The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina cfwnc.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=2286 Florida Disaster Fund www.volunteerflorida.org/donatefdf/ American Red Cross www.redcross.org/donate/cm/weathercompany-pub.html/ Best Friends Relief bestfriends.org/hurricane-helene?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiArby5BhCDARIsAIJvjIQR-UszaChxdQ1yQ1q1qPphkR3VGzs23ps7-MramtDg2_CQ8l5zFvAaAlcwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Yeah nothing like taking advice from somebody you've never met in person and found out their background first. Horrible advertising choice. Stop selling out.
@@ironyfatigue There was no other option, Tuna had to be saved! I wish I would have put more video in of how cute and cuddly he was with us before everything went crazy.
@@MaxOlsonChasing yeah you definitely did a good job on this and you have more cojones than I do. Then again I'm a female. I'd rather just photograph lightning from the distance. I'm in upstate SC on the NC border; I'm still having nightmares of the sound of trees crashing on the roof of the concrete building me and my animals were hiding out in, all 4 walls being beaten to death and shaken. It was the scariest night I've ever had.
I live 20 miles north of Augusta, GA and we were in the right upper quadrant of Helene. We have 15 acres of wooded land and lost over 150 trees. The NWS did a study of the damage using on the ground and satellite images to estimate the winds. We were in the 100+ mph wind gust part of the storm, received 14 inches of rain, and were without power for 12 days. I have never experienced anything like this and don't want to ever experience it again.
I live in Greenville SC and have never seen so many trees down from anything. Trees over 100 years old with 20-30 foot root systems completely ripped out of the earth and laying on their side or on houses or cars or poles snapped in half power lines down across roads everywhere. Thankfully we didn’t get the flooding Asheville and surrounding Western NC got. Honestly probably over a 1000 missing or dead people there. 2 months later almost on the dot there are still people missing. Western NC and surrounding areas didn’t just get flooding they got entire arms of mountain ranges that broke off and went down the mountain taking every single house in the whole valley out with it. Asheville started flooding 3 hours before the hurricane even hit. There was no way they could prepare. They lost water for at least a week. Tons of people still don’t have water or a home or a job they can go to. Yes hurricanes have been terrorizing the coast for hundreds of years but never have they been a category 3-4 and destroy a landlocked place and make the landscape forever changed. You can’t rebuild whole miles of road washed away. All the houses around rivers and the rivers spread open 50 yards wide. It is the most awful devastation and destruction ever seen. Watch some videos on Lake Lure. The town of Marshall. Black Mountain. Chimney Rock. Asheville. Hendersonville. Any places I didn’t mention also around that area are completely destroyed too. The people didn’t get told to evacuate. We were told catastrophic flooding take necessary precautions. How do we know what necessary precautions are if we have never had anything like this ever happen?? It sounded like a train going through our house for 2 hours straight. Everyone do anything you can to help the people in WNC.
@@williamwilkinson4756 William, I agree, whole towns need lots of help. My neighborhood got lots of rain and some wind. The neighborhood behind me had a tornado rip through, tearing down trees and anything that was in the path. Electric lines wrapped around their poles, laying every which-ways! I believe our job now is to get help for those who need therapy as well as a place to live. Several homestead channels and churches are getting, things they need, and places for people to live. Hope the churches get therapy for the ones who need it, maybe not this week, but later when the media goes away, and people feel forgotten, especially the children. People have been known to say they are fine one day, but the next day they could be found expired. Praying continuously for all who were/are affected.
@@williamwilkinson4756 The 15 acres we own are all virgin forest, and almost every oak tree was blown over-most of them over 100 years old. Many of the massive pines, some measuring 4 feet in diameter and standing over 100 feet tall, were also toppled. We live on Strom Thurmond Lake (Clarks Hill Lake), and the area is completely transformed. The most terrifying part of the storm occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., when the 100+ mph winds tore through. In the dark, I could hear trees snapping and falling, some hitting the ground with enough force to shake it, all over the sound of howling winds. I was bracing for one to crash into the house at any moment. I thank God that no tree struck our home. Even so, our loss is nothing compared to the devastation in the mountains.
@ingognito369 I'm not allowed to care about animals dying because humans also died? I lived next to Eskdale river in NZ when Cyclone gabrielle completely destroyed my home, and I had nowhere to move my sheep, I came back to them dead, caught against the fences that remained standing. Neighbors who didn't realize how the damage would be ran last minute and had to leave their cats behind because they couldn't find them, racing against the rising water. A little baby girl, a family that was a friend of my sisters not far from my home, lost her life. I grieve for them all equally. No one, human or animal should lose their life so horrifically. Just because I mentioned one, doesn't mean I don't care about the other. I don't like what about isms.
@@ingognito369they had the chance to save the cat not hundreds of people… not saying it’s not a devastating death toll and not saying it negates that… max couldn’t have done anything to save the people though, he got the chance to save a cat and did…
@@quinnabuncame down from Rotorua when Gabrielle hit, it was devastating to see what had happened to Esk valley, we would have had to be some of the first down the Napier Taupo road when it was still shut. Had to winch across some areas of highway and bypass areas driving on farmland. Was down there 2 days after helping with s&r. The level of devastation was completely mind blowing. Honestly hard to comprehend. Can’t imagine being caught in it when it hit. Talked to countless people and heard countless stories and still struggle to comprehend what they must have gone through
@alexdm884 it felt like an apocalypse hit, silt over double my height left over, sitting around pak and save trying to get internet to let loved ones know we were safe. I lost my house that day, but not my home. My family and I made out alive so we are very lucky. I always watch these storms since then and pray for everyone's (humans and animals) safety. Kia kaha ❤️
@@MaxOlsonChasingI'm hoping he is ok as well. Odd that the condo owner didn't text you back about him. It's also concerning that if he had an owner, he was left behind in the first place. I understand it can be tricky to get cats in, but there's no way I would leave anywhere without my furbaby!
I feel the same way....something tells me the owner probably just let him go.... Which I pray Im wrong bc that area wad devastated....I do t want to speak negative about the owner... But dang it man...take care if the furbabies!!!!!
@@MaxOlsonChasingThat's because the humans resoonsible for Tuna, if any, don't give a fuck. Clearly evidenced by them leaving Tuna behind to die all alone, in the dark, not understanding what is happening. How terrifying would that be?
I'm on the NC/SC border and disaster response, its still chaos. And it baffles me a friend of mine works in a hotel near Asheville NC and still has people coming thinking they are gonna see Chimney Rock and the Arts District and Biltmore and are baffled when they get to the hotel and have to sign a waiver saying they understand there is still no drinkable water and wondering what happened.
I moved from FL to Asheville 6 years ago. I felt a sense of safety for so long that I didnt have to be worried about every storm popping up in the gulf. After living through this and seeing the devastation first hand i can say i do not want to go through this again. The survivor's guilt is the hardest part. You look around and see that people lost everything including generations of family memebers. We're 6-7 weeks removed from the storm and it still looks like it happened last week when you drive around certain sections of the area. We have tried to keep positive attitudes in the clean up/recovery phase but it is just a monumental task. I know storms aren't going anywhere, i just hope we build smarter going forward.
Please i hope you see my comment and look into this and share with your local people too. Observe the buildings that survived the full force. They are most likely brick and they have either brick or limestone foundations and a decent basement on them. Please tell the legislation and people in charge of infrastructure to start building things correctly and have safety shelters that go above ground instead of underneath. Get people talking about proper drainage and emergency canals to be used for flooding. Tell them to look at cities like mexico city built with water and floods in mind...
We have been planning on moving from the Tampa Bay Area to Weaverville for about 5 years. We wanted to be in a place that “this never happens”. We were just over the hurricanes. I’m a 4th generation from St. Petersburg and I am done. We are still moving up there because my family all lives up in western North Carolina now. I have faith it’ll be ok. I just am too damn old to worry about hurricanes. But this did shake us up because we know once we leave Florida we will never be able to come back because of prices of homes.
@bonnietraynor1133 I moved up from the Bay Area 6 years ago. Even with the current landscape and mounting issues I would take the mountains over FL every time. Weaverville is a really pretty town, always reminds me of a Hallmark movie.
Im still mad at my Univeristy for not cancelling and giving us time to prepare for Helene. They cancelled classes on the 26th at 3pm, and many professors didn't let students miss class. We also we are in an area that got hit hard by the winds.
@@MADGUNSMONSTER They wanted to take 3 out of 5 days off and extend the semester by a day, but so many people weren’t happy and complained they walked back that decision less than 24 hours after announcingit
Great footage of a truly scary event! I'm in NE TN, smack-dab between SW VA and NW NC, and was out in the storm as it began to inundate our area Friday morning. When I'd left for work early that morning it was raining pretty hard but I never dreamed that, within a couple of hours, I'd be driving around trying to figure out where to go after realizing there was no way I'd be able to get back home anytime soon. There was already no electricity at my office so I left after being at work barely an hour. The first route I took brought me upon a very mature oak blocking the road with one poor man trying to cut it away with an axe. A couple of other people and I stood by wishing we had a chainsaw as the horizontal rain stung our faces but within a couple of minutes we were all rushing back to our vehicles as more and more trees started falling all around us. I barely got my car turned around before another tree fell across the road right where I'd been parked. I'm working on a story about that day, which saw me helping out at the sheriff's office where my sister works (it was the only place I had to go) as the deputies, (most of whom had already worked 14 hour shifts and couldn't get home), dealt with not only the community's calls for help but also their own tragedy when one of the cop's 14-year-old stepson took his own life. It was a day never to be forgotten, to say the least.
@@TheTania323 Thank you for that response. I doubt I would ever even publish the story with the exception of, possibly, locally, at least a year from now, and with several peoples' explicit permission. I do occasionally contribute human interest pieces to our city's newspaper but this particular story is highly personal and before this conversation it hadn't crossed my mind to publish it at all. But the main reason for this reply was to say thank you, so, thank you. 🤗
I’m probably not to far from you. I remember walking outside that morning and would hear trees cracking none stop and it felt like it went on forever, such a scary day for everyone affected. I’m so glad you are okay, I could imagine how scary it would be, to be outside of your car and trees just start falling right there with you..
Rip to those who lost their lives and especially those who are still missing... Here in NC got super hit hard and it's no where near ready for part of the mountains to reopen. Let that sink in. Those are some of the highest areas on the East Coast. And it looks like the beach did in FL. Weather has always ruled our mountains, and these are some of the most unpredictable unordinary conditions we had IN OUR MTNS! FROM A HURRICANE!
I was in NC when it hit. At first it didn’t seem that bad until you drove only a mile down the road where families had died and entire roads washed away. I was stuck up there for a week with little food power or water. Really scary stuff
I was in the same situation basically, couldn’t evacuate out for 6 days, had to ration resources I was staying with family in rural Burnsville/Pensacola, east of Asheville I won’t go into the whole long story of my experience, but basically even though we had damage from a mudslide; the house is livable; same story with our immediate neighbors, all alive and unhurt, could say we were almost untouched along our 1 mile stretch of road compared to everyone else 3 miles down from us, a community called cattail creek was decimated, I heard that a lot of people died there Until we could drive out none of us grasped the scope of what had just happened; we were in shock, it’s devastating Glad you made it through
What we need to be asking people is WHY has there been so little coverage of this disaster? There were like 1200 landslides, a dam release and 🫢no honest casualty count.
There are way more people talking about this on YT and social media than mainstream. That’s for sure. There are thousands of videos showing footage from Helene.. during and the aftermath. There probably won’t be a full death count any time soon. There are still tons of people missing and tons that have been found but are unidentified unfortunately.
1) I keep hearing there were no warnings when documented, saved national and local news footage for 48 hours leading up to events were calling for "catastrophic damage" 2) this shit has been all over the news for months now, there are more documentaries online for it than there are Katrina and that happened almost 20 years ago. Stop feeding into some bullshit narrative.
I live in East TN about 30 minutes away from the NC border and I’ve never in my life experienced something like this storm. It had already been raining for 3 days straight before the main brunt of the hurricane hit. The constant wind and the rain was insane. My brother and I had no idea how bad it was in NC that day, but we wanted to go see the Nolichucky river and how high the water was. The interstate was shut down about 20 minutes into our trip because multiple bridge collapses. Such a wild event to witness way up here in the mountains
Neighbor to your north in southwest Virginia, Lee County and that's what a lot of people don't know is that we were pounded with hard/heavy to at least steady rains for days before Helene so the ground was already saturated and then I went out that morning when the rains had slacked and all I heard around me on the mountains and ridge in this little valley I live in was trees coming down. The trees didn't really break up here but they were pulled out by the roots where the ground was so wet it was like a drenched sponge when I was out there listening and watching. I have a cousin that was working in the coal mines up in Wise County VA and this storm cost him both of his legs being amputated. He was by the high wall when it just came down with no sign or warning, crushed his legs and at first they removed one then had to end up doing both and he's just now getting to come home. I've got another cousin that was down in western NC for work when it hit and he got stuck down there for weeks and he's been able to come home twice since the storm but now he's back down there helping as he's been doing since the storm hit and only comes back from time to time to see his boys because there's so much work and he's made so many friends down there and he wants to help them. None of us that lives in these mountains ever thought we'd have to worry about a hurricane, we're hundreds of miles from the coast and far closer to the Atlantic coastline than the Gulf yet it was a Helene from the Gulf that got us. Even had a small mudslide on the front of my bank by the road in this little valley. We now can see signs of sink holes coming up in the main road here in places. Another thing people don't understand is now any time it rains I get worry, I worry will it slide/wash out more, I worry about sink holes and just worry about 2" of rain getting in the lowest level of my house again. So I wake up since Helene and stay so anxious and worried when I hear rain, I can't sleep during it and can't eat and I can imagine it's like that and worse for those that were in the even harder hit areas. Then oddly enough in May 2023 a tornado had touched down behind my house and there's still damage on my property I am dealing with from that. It's been a wild 2+ years now really and I'd like a break in this area (and I group Southwest VA, Northeast TN and Western NC as all one mountainous area, we're all neighbors and live similarly).
From East TN. and when I say this was so. unexpected. So scary no one expects the MOUNTAINS to flood. You would never have expected something like this- 6 people died in my town due to the severe flash flooding. We went from 4 inches to 30 feet of water in Hours. The appalachias haven't seen flooding like this since the very early 1900's. The peak then was 24ft. We upped that by 6 whole feet. It's been almost 2 months and things won't be 'normal' for years to come. Anything close to the River is destroyed. The sound of rushing water will haunt me until the day I die. No one understands the toll, the horror, and the absolute devastation that has hit the southeast. I pray to god I never see something like this ever again in my lifetime
I watched your entire Ft. Myers video. First time in 33 years I've lived in FL that I really comprehended the power of a hurricane. This was equally fascinating.
"Tuna" made yall's video so much better. Great storm surge footage. Been living on the Gulf Coast for over 35 years and seen enough of these storms to evacuate when the warnings go out. Thank you for showing people just how bad things can get so they take proper precautions. Thumbs up!!
I hope through all of this y'all take care of yourselves too, there's an immense amount of studies on the stress effects for those who wait out the storm, whether intentional or otherwise. Thank you for documenting this experience.
Thank you, I feel guilty bringing this up since we are purposely putting ourselves in these situations. But it’s important to point out anyone that goes through a traumatic storm should look into talking with someone.
Me and my neighbors were stuck for 6 days here in Yancey County NC, we couldn’t leave because of giant oak trees fell and our road washed out. I tried cutting for hours but my chain was too dull and I was running out of gas and I couldn’t find a file. I’m used to doing everything myself and not asking for help, we couldn’t have gotten out without the help of other neighbors that came with machinery and saws. FEMA came by and asked if we needed help, my neighbor is 84 and our generators weren’t working bc of bad gas, so we were running out of food. FEMA said they’d be back with new gas and supplies and they never came back. It was the local community that really stepped in, they had most of the roads cleared before the gov even showed up. If anything FEMA was getting in the way, but the National Guard really helped out.
That was excellent. The meteorologist at the end perfectly and succulently described, and it's hard to put into words, what happened in Western North Carolina. Thank you.
I also want to add, Helene was not only INCREDIBLY and DEVISTATINGLY strong, it also lasted a long, long time, and went incredibly far north. The last hurricane to hit Ohio was hurricane Ian, from what I remember, which I wasn't alive for. Helene hit us, too. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was in the south, but there was still damage. I was at school, going home, just waiting for the bus at the bus stop when Helene hit us. There was no shelter. For the first time since I was 5 I was LIFTED OFF MY FEET by the wind. For context, I am 225 lbs. I'm not small. I remember after the storm there were some trees damaged, scattered around the sidewalk. Some just lost large branches, and some fell over completely. I pray for everyone who got caught in this tragic storm.
Ah Tuna so cute! thank you for taking care of him during the storm. WOW this was a frightening watch i cant imagine being in a situation like this one. Glad everybody safe. Helene will be remembered for a very long time she brought death & destruction to alot of people in Fl, GA, WV, eTN & wNC. I've never seen devastation like it. Thanks for sharing, stay safe! ❤👍
Minor point of criticism fellas, you should have really been wearing helmets or hard-hats when going outside in the storm. Sounds silly, but it might save your life. Great footage!
@@suzannewhitsett7516 when you're chasing storms, as they are, there's a certain level of preparedness needed. Which is something they took well into consideration. It's just adding helmets to be a part of that consideration
@@suzannewhitsett7516if you have enough money laying around for all these fancy cameras and go-pros, you have enough money for a climbing helmet, or literally ANY type of helmet.
Having been through Irene in VT and being a weather nut I could see this coming and warned friends and their friends in NC, Asheville area. I tried to explain but just did not get through and no one left or prepared. My heart breaks for what they are going through. Musicians Mission of Mercy in Asheville has been providing aid long before this happened as well as PTSD assistance if you are looking for a good group to send aid, supplies to. They are very responsive, 501C3 and people already know they are out there helping in case you want an established group to work with to send anything. We plan on sending for a year monthly. It will be a long long process. The scars are still evident in Vermont and that was 14 years ago.
Max! Coming to you from 6A Social Studies at AMCS! LOOOOVE your footage! Fayk still rocks! Whole class loved it! "Super dope! - Super Chill - Perfect! Much love to Trent" - 6A. Take care buddy! Stay in touch! -Mr. Skoog
Insane how fast that current is ripping around the condos stilts. People think it’s not that bad I promise you can’t swim against that current. Great coverage guys.
I live in Mount Holly, not many ppl realize we got flooded along with west charlotte when the hurricane came thru but wnc got it bad with landslides and flooding
I'm on the NC SC border and this is the first time I heard of any damage in Mount Holly , I have watched dozens of videos and NOBODY has said anything about it . I use to live in Bessemer City and went to Mount Holly a lot to camp when my children were small. Glad you are alright, was there any lives lost ? I hope not.
@ all of the homes and the set of apartments by the river on hwy 27 at the underpass by Dutchman’s creek and the Meck/Gaston county line got flooded up to the roofs … there is a TH-cam video I’ve seen talk about it but the homes on the charlotte side got flooded to by the river
I am american and wonder the same, its all for cheap and saving money. I left some comments encouraging people to rally up for brick and limestone foundations and look at places built for water accommodation and flooding. Its all made of brick and limestone.
Wow, some nice footage there. When you see the drone footage of homes sitting peacefully in a calm field of water and as the drone pans out you see a house roof poking out of the water you realize you were looking at the second story of a house sitting peacefully in a field of water, not a bungalow.
Thank you for sharing this content with us, you did an amazing job of capturing not only the storm but also the lasting effects of these storms on the people who live near them! I'm so intrigued by the storms themselves that I forget the real world effects to the people that live near them, excellent work!
My parents and I here in Newland North Carolina now have our home back after a little over a month of repairing and replacing the flooring and paneling of the walls along with new furniture, a new stove, new cabinets along with a new microwave and a washing machine and dryer we are very thankful and blessed to have our home back. It stinks getting completely flooded out of your home I don't trust floods anymore and I'm terrified even more of floods now.
Referencing the chart at 27:58, Busick got 30.78 inches of rain. Busick is basically on the slope of Mount Mitchell. Do you realize how absolutely insane almost 3 feet of water being dropped on the entirety of the highest mountain east of the Mississippi river is and what it does do the communities down hill which also received crazy amounts of rain? It is literally mind blowing.
Thank you so much for saving Tuna! I moved down to St. Pete less than two weeks before Helene hit. We live in a zone A flood zone and being in a mobile home park, are supposed to evacuate if an evacuation order is given. Well, our neighbors swore up and down that it hadn't flooded there in decades. So we along with many others stayed. We rode out Helene just fine, no damage, until the storm surge came around midnight. We lost two motorcycles and a car, but were lucky enough to not get any water in our mobile home. High tide was at 1:58am and at that exact time the water started to recede. Rest assured, we took Milton way more seriously and evacuated. Again, our place had no damage, but some homes were leveled, as if a tornado came through the park.
10,000 dead. Hundreds still missing, tangled in 40 ft high mud and debris piles. Everyone in the region is traumatized. And still nothing from the government. It's horrible, 2 months later. Families in tents at 15°.
Fantastic job documenting and putting all this together, Max and Aaron! Thanks for saving this adorable Kitty. The devastation is beyond imagination this Year. But consider not staying with Better Help; they are really fishy. But make sure you and esp Aaron has some time to calm down mentally he's been on a run in 2024 you are feeling this at some point
Have you checked with the condo owner to see where Tuna is now? I would NOT have left the cat there. Someone let him outside with a hurricane coming. The sweet cat deserves better.
Someone asked about Tuna towards the top of the comment thread. They tried contacting the condo owners about Tuna and they never responded. That tells me they dumped Tuna as soon as this crew left the area. 😔🤬
That's what I was thinking as well. How could they dump this cat???! Sounds like this crew took the first opportunity to leave kitty! #dobetter people want to help so please provide contact info and location so this cat can be #rescued #aspca #humanesociety #peta #humanesocietyflorida
@ you should educate yourself. People who live on the coast do not have to leave every time there’s a hurricane. That’s why there’s categories. But I was referring to WNC, of course.
I just SUBBED UP. IVE NEVER seen your stuff being . What a FANOMINAL JOB. I've been looking for someone to explain how IT ALL BECAME SO CATASTROPHIC for the CAROLINAS. Unless I missed it ive never heard someone say the whole DAMN side of the MOUNTAIN gave way. Now ITS ALL MAKES SINCE TO ME 🤦🏽♀️🤷♀️. I couldn't wrap my mind around they were saying . Just didnt click . Im in DALLAS GEORGIA . I just now have been able to bring myself to start watching it all so if started at the beginning. it's just SOUL CRUSHING . MY HEART ACHES FOR EVERYONE WHO was AFFECTED. SEEING ALL THE DOCUMENTARIES. Im UNDERSTANDING WHOLE COMMUNITIES are GONE FOLKS BURIED THAT WILL NEVER BE FOUND . TOWNS , LAND, GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES ,JUST GONE . THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU GUYS DO . ALWAYS STAY SAFE TOGETHER. 🙏💯✌️🇺🇲
It also devastated east Tennessee as well.. it completely erased Erwin, TN from the map. The hospital was hit really hard and the Drs and nurses had to take the patients to the roof for emergency helicopter evacuation.. one factory made their workers stay working and the whole building flooded over the rooftop.. at least 6-10 employees were swept away.. noone here had flood insurance as we are in the mountains so the thousands of homes that the hurricane destroyed are just gone. FEMA offered $750 (🤬) for relief, which most were either turned down completely or only got half of it!! What made it so bad here is that it had already rained steady for 4-5 days before the hurricane hit so the ground was already over saturated.. Our dam gave way as well.. We got up to 52 inches in some areas!! Chimney Rock is completely gone! When the hurricane hit after all the rain we already had mud slides came down the mountains with no warning taking out every bridge that Erwin, TN had as well as state highway 21 and a big piece of I-40 was hit by a huge mudslide and completely washed the interstate away.. I am sure the death toll is close to or over 1000 people! There were also several spin up tornados as well!! By the time emergency personnel realized what was happening we only had a 5-10 minute warning so there was no way to get out and no where to go. Yes West NC got hit really hard but please don't forget us here in East Tennessee!! We still have SAR teams out trying to find the remains of the hundreds that are missing! FEMA is not doing anything for us!! I pray for all the states and people affected but it's like everyone totally forgot our little towns here! Oh yes it also snowed 5 inches 4 days after the hurricane!! So we had heavy rainfall for 4-5 days prior to hurricane Helene, then when it hit we got between 25-52 inches of rain, 100 mph winds, spinoff tornados, mudslides, and snow within a two week period!! The water was rushing at about 75 mph so we got hit pretty hard too!! They are calling this a flood of biblical proportions!! The last flood here was in 1916 and we got 30 inches more this time!!
I live in Lexington, SC. This storm was probably the worst one I've been in. We've been in quite a few severe thunderstorms but never something like this. The wind was howling, the rain sounded like bullets against the windows. We lost a tree in the backyard, the tree that's been back there for decades. Luckily it didn't hit the house but it did destroy the gutters. We only got about 70-80 mph winds but that was enough for me! I couldn't sleep the entire night as it passed over us. My fiancé had been through a few storms so he was helping me get through it while I held onto him like a frightened cat lol. We were extremely lucky though. I hope the communties that were affected rebuild even stronger than before. Rest in peace to all of those who lost their lives.
It’s so sad. People save all their lives for their dream beach house just to have it all ripped away overnight. Not to mention people’s entire livelihood…the business they’ve worked so hard to build…demolished….and people who lost their one and only home…where do you go, what do you do. Here, and in the mountains, the devastation is unimaginable. Thank you for keeping the story alive, and the need for continued help. This isn’t over!!
Wow, the speed and force at which that tsunami-like storm surge came in was terrifying. Seeing so much lightning in the eyewall of a major hurricane was also very eerie. This must have been insane to experience in real life. Hopefully the Big Bend catches a break from tropical cyclones for a while, since they desperately need it to rebuild after 3 impacts in only a year
I live in Chimney Rock , NC. There is no Fema or national guard. They were here for a week for photo opps and then they left. I faired better than most . I watched all my neighbors houses float by me. There are so many old couples who have lost everything. They have cried when I approached them in order to get them access to their homes. I refuse to ever ask for any government help. I have neighbors living with me and I have fed several families. My neighbors have been completely abandoned and they need government help and the government is nowhere to be found. I did read today Biden has '''to return from his vacation to get more money for Ukraine and Israel''' his words.
I’m up at a college near Asheville that got hit really hard, and our school didn’t think we were gonna get hit at all, but obviously the worst happened. I personally was stuck on campus for 4 days without power or water until a friend could take me and my partner to get gas and leave.
At 25:38 is actualy Bills Creek, NC. I remember passing the white truck and trying to figure out what they were doing. I was the fire department that drove by.
It was gracious of you to rescue that cat. But it was foolish to leave her just on the chance that she might have terrible humans who left her to drown in the dark, alone. They can go to hell.
I experienced Helene and Milton back to back. The worst part is we couldn't evacuate because we have so many animals to care for, we can't ravel with all of them at once and transport me, my dad, mom and little brother. It was terrifying. I am 16 years old and have never been through storms this bad. Helene was big, taking out several states, Milton eas small but strong, took out almost half of Florida, I was without power for 2 weeks, because we have a full solar powered house, out solar panels were blown off
Southern Missouri got hit with flash flooding from extreme heavy rain and strong winds from Helene. And from Bernie to Sikeston, we were still recovering from the tornado that swept through at 7am on May 26, 2024. We had no warning in time to react. As soon as our phones rang the alert, the tornado was already on us in Dexter, Missouri. Helene just added to the devastation even though she hit us 4 months later.
Thank you for documenting and pointing out thst warnings and lead times were absolutely going out 48 hours or more prior to impact, too much misinformation floating around saying people didnt evacuate bc there were no warnings or forecasts about flooding. When in reality they were throwing up red flags left and right.
Thank you for saving tuna! I love cats and that warmed my heart, I hope any stray animals were safe during this storm, heart breaking. You should keep tuna since he is a stray!
ith it. Asheville started flooding 3 hours before the hurricane even hit. There was no way they could prepare. They lost water for at least a week. Tons of people still don’t have water or a home or a job they can go to. Yes hurricanes have been terrorizing the coast for hundreds of years but never have they been a category 3-4 and destroy a landlocked place and make the landscape forever changed. You can’t rebuild whole miles of road washed away. All the houses around rivers and the rivers spread open 50 yards wide. It is the most awful devastation and destruction ever seen. Watch some videos on Lake Lure. The town of Marshall. Black Mountain. Chimney Rock. Asheville. Hendersonville. Any places I didn’t mention also around that area are completely destroyed too. The people didn’t get told to evacuate. We were told catastrophic flooding take necessary precautions. How do we know what necessary precautions are if we have never had anything like this ever happen?? It sounded like a train going through our house for 2 hours straight. Everyone do anything you can to help the people in WNC.
We missed the brunt force of the storm by a 30 minute drive. Having lived in and around the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially in the areas hit hard, it makes my heart hurt beyond measure. We only had to pump out 9,300 gallons from our deep crawl space and replace the 1 year old new ducts,HVAC system. We were lucky. :( Just keep remembering the folks right up the road! The region and the folks who have homes here need our help more than many are aware of (outside of the media), especially while needing to get into a safe and warm place. It is supposed to snow again tomorrow,and quite bad. The devestation I saw first hand, traveling to Burnsville at the end of October, felt like a warped version of what I have always known.
Its definitely a competition between Beryl and Helene as the worst hurricane of the decade, Beryl destroyed Cuba, and almost every country near it, and after that, traveled up to Texas, and knocked us out of power for days (if not weeks) straight.
I'm not even halfway done with the video and all I can think of is tuna. I really hope he ended up in a good and loving place/home if you all didn't keep him. 😭❤️🙏
It was interesting to see the before and after of the houses on Keaton beach. I had claims all those places but it’s always cool to watch your videos and see what caused those claims.
and to think Milton came right after. I live inland, i'll probably always live inland, so i'll likely never truly understand the impacts these storms have unless I live on the coastlands. Thank you for giving folks a window to look through to see what kind of destruction and strange, horrible beauty these powers of nature entail. ps; thank you for keeping little Tuna safe
I was in college when this hurricane hit! I was in Anderson Sc which is near where it disappeared. Had to cancel class for a week cause so many trees were down.
When I saw Helene out in the gulf I thought it was going to be a weak storm but I was wrong it was a CAT 4 terror I’m so glad it was not a CAT 5 I watch on fox weather and it was a disaster see the places in Florida I visited get destroyed by Helene the storm surge the rainfall total was absolutely devastating rain fall totals up to 30ins so crazy I was by beryl but this is just the worst I ever seen in my life the crazy 20ft storm surge was terrible the damage was also horrifying in North Carolina was damaged above and beyond it look like a nuke was dropped absolutely horrible good job saving Tuna your the best Love you -Jackson
Original projections had our workplace in the line of sight of the worst of the storm, and even up till that night before the shift. They still expected us to show up, work the shift. Despite no truckers willing to drive and deliver in it. And let us go an hour early, literally 15 minutes before the worst of the storm, would have hit. It turned and missed us, but how bad it could have been should have been enough. Over 150 people.
Were you impacted by Hurricane Helene? Share your stories with us below.
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Max better help is not good please don’t accept their sponsorship anymore
Don't use the better help. Go to a counselor in person!!
Better help is a money making scam.
Yeah nothing like taking advice from somebody you've never met in person and found out their background first. Horrible advertising choice. Stop selling out.
Betterhelp is a scam
Thank you for saving Tuna's life.
@@ironyfatigue There was no other option, Tuna had to be saved! I wish I would have put more video in of how cute and cuddly he was with us before everything went crazy.
I would also have taken Tuna home with me he’s precious!
@@ncavlleguy I like the way you think
Holy cow this was intense. You captured the entire thing so well. Great stuff Max
@@tornadotrx Always appreciate your support and help behind the scenes, thank you dude!
@@MaxOlsonChasing yeah you definitely did a good job on this and you have more cojones than I do. Then again I'm a female. I'd rather just photograph lightning from the distance. I'm in upstate SC on the NC border; I'm still having nightmares of the sound of trees crashing on the roof of the concrete building me and my animals were hiding out in, all 4 walls being beaten to death and shaken. It was the scariest night I've ever had.
Our cats name is Tuna and I feel so invested in this. From our Tuna to yours, let us know if you need anything.
I live 20 miles north of Augusta, GA and we were in the right upper quadrant of Helene. We have 15 acres of wooded land and lost over 150 trees. The NWS did a study of the damage using on the ground and satellite images to estimate the winds. We were in the 100+ mph wind gust part of the storm, received 14 inches of rain, and were without power for 12 days. I have never experienced anything like this and don't want to ever experience it again.
Yep. Live nearby. Grateful to be alive.
I live in Greenville SC and have never seen so many trees down from anything. Trees over 100 years old with 20-30 foot root systems completely ripped out of the earth and laying on their side or on houses or cars or poles snapped in half power lines down across roads everywhere. Thankfully we didn’t get the flooding Asheville and surrounding Western NC got. Honestly probably over a 1000 missing or dead people there. 2 months later almost on the dot there are still people missing. Western NC and surrounding areas didn’t just get flooding they got entire arms of mountain ranges that broke off and went down the mountain taking every single house in the whole valley out with it. Asheville started flooding 3 hours before the hurricane even hit. There was no way they could prepare. They lost water for at least a week. Tons of people still don’t have water or a home or a job they can go to. Yes hurricanes have been terrorizing the coast for hundreds of years but never have they been a category 3-4 and destroy a landlocked place and make the landscape forever changed. You can’t rebuild whole miles of road washed away. All the houses around rivers and the rivers spread open 50 yards wide. It is the most awful devastation and destruction ever seen. Watch some videos on Lake Lure. The town of Marshall. Black Mountain. Chimney Rock. Asheville. Hendersonville. Any places I didn’t mention also around that area are completely destroyed too. The people didn’t get told to evacuate. We were told catastrophic flooding take necessary precautions. How do we know what necessary precautions are if we have never had anything like this ever happen?? It sounded like a train going through our house for 2 hours straight. Everyone do anything you can to help the people in WNC.
@@williamwilkinson4756 William, I agree, whole towns need lots of help. My neighborhood got lots of rain and some wind. The neighborhood behind me had a tornado rip through, tearing down trees and anything that was in the path. Electric lines wrapped around their poles, laying every which-ways!
I believe our job now is to get help for those who need therapy as well as a place to live. Several homestead channels and churches are getting, things they need, and places for people to live.
Hope the churches get therapy for the ones who need it, maybe not this week, but later when the media goes away, and people feel forgotten, especially the children. People have been known to say they are fine one day, but the next day they could be found expired.
Praying continuously for all who were/are affected.
i live right next to it, also finally someone talking about the damage the time it was a hurricane.
@@williamwilkinson4756 The 15 acres we own are all virgin forest, and almost every oak tree was blown over-most of them over 100 years old. Many of the massive pines, some measuring 4 feet in diameter and standing over 100 feet tall, were also toppled. We live on Strom Thurmond Lake (Clarks Hill Lake), and the area is completely transformed. The most terrifying part of the storm occurred between 4:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., when the 100+ mph winds tore through. In the dark, I could hear trees snapping and falling, some hitting the ground with enough force to shake it, all over the sound of howling winds. I was bracing for one to crash into the house at any moment. I thank God that no tree struck our home. Even so, our loss is nothing compared to the devastation in the mountains.
Thank you so much for saving little Tuna. Its horrible to think of all the animals who werent so lucky.
What about all the hundreds buried under the mud..people,human beings
@ingognito369 I'm not allowed to care about animals dying because humans also died?
I lived next to Eskdale river in NZ when Cyclone gabrielle completely destroyed my home, and I had nowhere to move my sheep, I came back to them dead, caught against the fences that remained standing. Neighbors who didn't realize how the damage would be ran last minute and had to leave their cats behind because they couldn't find them, racing against the rising water. A little baby girl, a family that was a friend of my sisters not far from my home, lost her life. I grieve for them all equally. No one, human or animal should lose their life so horrifically. Just because I mentioned one, doesn't mean I don't care about the other. I don't like what about isms.
@@ingognito369they had the chance to save the cat not hundreds of people… not saying it’s not a devastating death toll and not saying it negates that… max couldn’t have done anything to save the people though, he got the chance to save a cat and did…
@@quinnabuncame down from Rotorua when Gabrielle hit, it was devastating to see what had happened to Esk valley, we would have had to be some of the first down the Napier Taupo road when it was still shut. Had to winch across some areas of highway and bypass areas driving on farmland. Was down there 2 days after helping with s&r. The level of devastation was completely mind blowing. Honestly hard to comprehend. Can’t imagine being caught in it when it hit. Talked to countless people and heard countless stories and still struggle to comprehend what they must have gone through
@alexdm884 it felt like an apocalypse hit, silt over double my height left over, sitting around pak and save trying to get internet to let loved ones know we were safe. I lost my house that day, but not my home. My family and I made out alive so we are very lucky. I always watch these storms since then and pray for everyone's (humans and animals) safety.
Kia kaha ❤️
I am totally invested in Tuna and making sure he/she is ok. If all else fails, we must protect TUNA!
Right?! I tried texting the condo owner for an update and never got a text back
@@MaxOlsonChasing Please give us an update if you hear back! It is such a glimmer of hope you were able to rescue Tuna and I am hoping he is okay.
@@MaxOlsonChasingI'm hoping he is ok as well. Odd that the condo owner didn't text you back about him. It's also concerning that if he had an owner, he was left behind in the first place. I understand it can be tricky to get cats in, but there's no way I would leave anywhere without my furbaby!
I feel the same way....something tells me the owner probably just let him go.... Which I pray Im wrong bc that area wad devastated....I do t want to speak negative about the owner... But dang it man...take care if the furbabies!!!!!
@@MaxOlsonChasingThat's because the humans resoonsible for Tuna, if any, don't give a fuck. Clearly evidenced by them leaving Tuna behind to die all alone, in the dark, not understanding what is happening. How terrifying would that be?
I'm on the NC/SC border and disaster response, its still chaos. And it baffles me a friend of mine works in a hotel near Asheville NC and still has people coming thinking they are gonna see Chimney Rock and the Arts District and Biltmore and are baffled when they get to the hotel and have to sign a waiver saying they understand there is still no drinkable water and wondering what happened.
Weather weaponization is what happened
Thank you for being out there, that’s got to be frustrating dealing with that. Do you guys have any donation links I can add to my list?
@@MaxOlsonChasing Can't say we do, just a group of guys with certifications under our belts.
The news did very little reporting. Tic tok by locals was the only info and still to this day. It's disgusting
@kilerkRazorclaw..they live under a rock
I moved from FL to Asheville 6 years ago. I felt a sense of safety for so long that I didnt have to be worried about every storm popping up in the gulf. After living through this and seeing the devastation first hand i can say i do not want to go through this again. The survivor's guilt is the hardest part. You look around and see that people lost everything including generations of family memebers. We're 6-7 weeks removed from the storm and it still looks like it happened last week when you drive around certain sections of the area. We have tried to keep positive attitudes in the clean up/recovery phase but it is just a monumental task. I know storms aren't going anywhere, i just hope we build smarter going forward.
Please i hope you see my comment and look into this and share with your local people too. Observe the buildings that survived the full force. They are most likely brick and they have either brick or limestone foundations and a decent basement on them. Please tell the legislation and people in charge of infrastructure to start building things correctly and have safety shelters that go above ground instead of underneath. Get people talking about proper drainage and emergency canals to be used for flooding. Tell them to look at cities like mexico city built with water and floods in mind...
People are the most important not there things because most things can be replaced that’s person life can not be.
We have been planning on moving from the Tampa Bay Area to Weaverville for about 5 years. We wanted to be in a place that “this never happens”. We were just over the hurricanes. I’m a 4th generation from St. Petersburg and I am done. We are still moving up there because my family all lives up in western North Carolina now. I have faith it’ll be ok. I just am too damn old to worry about hurricanes. But this did shake us up because we know once we leave Florida we will never be able to come back because of prices of homes.
@bonnietraynor1133 I moved up from the Bay Area 6 years ago. Even with the current landscape and mounting issues I would take the mountains over FL every time. Weaverville is a really pretty town, always reminds me of a Hallmark movie.
Im still mad at my Univeristy for not cancelling and giving us time to prepare for Helene. They cancelled classes on the 26th at 3pm, and many professors didn't let students miss class. We also we are in an area that got hit hard by the winds.
@@kierand4583 Oh man that’s frustrating, especially with how spot on the forecast was. Where do you go to school?
@@MaxOlsonChasingI go to Augusta University
@@kierand4583 Don't let the school's hierarchy get away with that. Their arrogance and stubbornness could have gotten people unalived.
@@MADGUNSMONSTER They wanted to take 3 out of 5 days off and extend the semester by a day, but so many people weren’t happy and complained they walked back that decision less than 24 hours after announcingit
That is crazy... For sure..dont let them get away with that crap
Great footage of a truly scary event!
I'm in NE TN, smack-dab between SW VA and NW NC, and was out in the storm as it began to inundate our area Friday morning. When I'd left for work early that morning it was raining pretty hard but I never dreamed that, within a couple of hours, I'd be driving around trying to figure out where to go after realizing there was no way I'd be able to get back home anytime soon. There was already no electricity at my office so I left after being at work barely an hour. The first route I took brought me upon a very mature oak blocking the road with one poor man trying to cut it away with an axe. A couple of other people and I stood by wishing we had a chainsaw as the horizontal rain stung our faces but within a couple of minutes we were all rushing back to our vehicles as more and more trees started falling all around us. I barely got my car turned around before another tree fell across the road right where I'd been parked.
I'm working on a story about that day, which saw me helping out at the sheriff's office where my sister works (it was the only place I had to go) as the deputies, (most of whom had already worked 14 hour shifts and couldn't get home), dealt with not only the community's calls for help but also their own tragedy when one of the cop's 14-year-old stepson took his own life. It was a day never to be forgotten, to say the least.
I'm not reading that
@joshuadala3508 no one said you had to 🥴
@@TheTania323 Thank you for that response. I doubt I would ever even publish the story with the exception of, possibly, locally, at least a year from now, and with several peoples' explicit permission. I do occasionally contribute human interest pieces to our city's newspaper but this particular story is highly personal and before this conversation it hadn't crossed my mind to publish it at all.
But the main reason for this reply was to say thank you, so, thank you. 🤗
I’m probably not to far from you. I remember walking outside that morning and would hear trees cracking none stop and it felt like it went on forever, such a scary day for everyone affected. I’m so glad you are okay, I could imagine how scary it would be, to be outside of your car and trees just start falling right there with you..
Thank You for showing the brutal force of Helene. I live in Valdosta and we had recorded wind gust of 133mph. We were without power for 14 days.
Great video man, thank you for saving Tuna, really wish you could have kept him.
@13:20 the kitties meows 😭😭
Thanks!
Rip to those who lost their lives and especially those who are still missing... Here in NC got super hit hard and it's no where near ready for part of the mountains to reopen. Let that sink in. Those are some of the highest areas on the East Coast. And it looks like the beach did in FL. Weather has always ruled our mountains, and these are some of the most unpredictable unordinary conditions we had IN OUR MTNS! FROM A HURRICANE!
I was in NC when it hit. At first it didn’t seem that bad until you drove only a mile down the road where families had died and entire roads washed away. I was stuck up there for a week with little food power or water. Really scary stuff
I was in the same situation basically, couldn’t evacuate out for 6 days, had to ration resources
I was staying with family in rural Burnsville/Pensacola, east of Asheville
I won’t go into the whole long story of my experience,
but basically even though we had damage from a mudslide; the house is livable; same story with our immediate neighbors, all alive and unhurt, could say we were almost untouched along our 1 mile stretch of road compared to everyone else
3 miles down from us, a community called cattail creek was decimated, I heard that a lot of people died there
Until we could drive out none of us grasped the scope of what had just happened; we were in shock, it’s devastating
Glad you made it through
What we need to be asking people is WHY has there been so little coverage of this disaster? There were like 1200 landslides, a dam release and 🫢no honest casualty count.
Landgrab for lithium and pure quartz. Harris’s husband has a license to mine. It’s terrible. People living in tents on their own land.
I’m wondering the same thing… I haven’t heard how many people died. This is horrible!!!!
There are way more people talking about this on YT and social media than mainstream. That’s for sure. There are thousands of videos showing footage from Helene.. during and the aftermath. There probably won’t be a full death count any time soon. There are still tons of people missing and tons that have been found but are unidentified unfortunately.
1) I keep hearing there were no warnings when documented, saved national and local news footage for 48 hours leading up to events were calling for "catastrophic damage"
2) this shit has been all over the news for months now, there are more documentaries online for it than there are Katrina and that happened almost 20 years ago. Stop feeding into some bullshit narrative.
I live in East TN about 30 minutes away from the NC border and I’ve never in my life experienced something like this storm. It had already been raining for 3 days straight before the main brunt of the hurricane hit. The constant wind and the rain was insane. My brother and I had no idea how bad it was in NC that day, but we wanted to go see the Nolichucky river and how high the water was. The interstate was shut down about 20 minutes into our trip because multiple bridge collapses. Such a wild event to witness way up here in the mountains
Neighbor to your north in southwest Virginia, Lee County and that's what a lot of people don't know is that we were pounded with hard/heavy to at least steady rains for days before Helene so the ground was already saturated and then I went out that morning when the rains had slacked and all I heard around me on the mountains and ridge in this little valley I live in was trees coming down. The trees didn't really break up here but they were pulled out by the roots where the ground was so wet it was like a drenched sponge when I was out there listening and watching.
I have a cousin that was working in the coal mines up in Wise County VA and this storm cost him both of his legs being amputated. He was by the high wall when it just came down with no sign or warning, crushed his legs and at first they removed one then had to end up doing both and he's just now getting to come home. I've got another cousin that was down in western NC for work when it hit and he got stuck down there for weeks and he's been able to come home twice since the storm but now he's back down there helping as he's been doing since the storm hit and only comes back from time to time to see his boys because there's so much work and he's made so many friends down there and he wants to help them.
None of us that lives in these mountains ever thought we'd have to worry about a hurricane, we're hundreds of miles from the coast and far closer to the Atlantic coastline than the Gulf yet it was a Helene from the Gulf that got us. Even had a small mudslide on the front of my bank by the road in this little valley. We now can see signs of sink holes coming up in the main road here in places. Another thing people don't understand is now any time it rains I get worry, I worry will it slide/wash out more, I worry about sink holes and just worry about 2" of rain getting in the lowest level of my house again. So I wake up since Helene and stay so anxious and worried when I hear rain, I can't sleep during it and can't eat and I can imagine it's like that and worse for those that were in the even harder hit areas. Then oddly enough in May 2023 a tornado had touched down behind my house and there's still damage on my property I am dealing with from that. It's been a wild 2+ years now really and I'd like a break in this area (and I group Southwest VA, Northeast TN and Western NC as all one mountainous area, we're all neighbors and live similarly).
Tuna ❤
The bestest lil boi
What about da humans n 🏡
@@juicyjules7409animals are defenseless....how could you even say that!🤔....nevermind🙄...
Thank you for capturing this, i'm from the UK and it's really interesting and sad to see the damage caused, thank you for keeping Tuna safe ♥
From East TN. and when I say this was so. unexpected. So scary no one expects the MOUNTAINS to flood. You would never have expected something like this- 6 people died in my town due to the severe flash flooding. We went from 4 inches to 30 feet of water in Hours. The appalachias haven't seen flooding like this since the very early 1900's. The peak then was 24ft. We upped that by 6 whole feet.
It's been almost 2 months and things won't be 'normal' for years to come. Anything close to the River is destroyed. The sound of rushing water will haunt me until the day I die. No one understands the toll, the horror, and the absolute devastation that has hit the southeast. I pray to god I never see something like this ever again in my lifetime
I watched your entire Ft. Myers video. First time in 33 years I've lived in FL that I really comprehended the power of a hurricane. This was equally fascinating.
"Tuna" made yall's video so much better. Great storm surge footage. Been living on the Gulf Coast for over 35 years and seen enough of these storms to evacuate when the warnings go out. Thank you for showing people just how bad things can get so they take proper precautions. Thumbs up!!
I hope through all of this y'all take care of yourselves too, there's an immense amount of studies on the stress effects for those who wait out the storm, whether intentional or otherwise. Thank you for documenting this experience.
Thank you, I feel guilty bringing this up since we are purposely putting ourselves in these situations. But it’s important to point out anyone that goes through a traumatic storm should look into talking with someone.
Thank you for saving Tuna! ❤🙏
Me and my neighbors were stuck for 6 days here in Yancey County NC, we couldn’t leave because of giant oak trees fell and our road washed out. I tried cutting for hours but my chain was too dull and I was running out of gas and I couldn’t find a file. I’m used to doing everything myself and not asking for help, we couldn’t have gotten out without the help of other neighbors that came with machinery and saws. FEMA came by and asked if we needed help, my neighbor is 84 and our generators weren’t working bc of bad gas, so we were running out of food. FEMA said they’d be back with new gas and supplies and they never came back. It was the local community that really stepped in, they had most of the roads cleared before the gov even showed up. If anything FEMA was getting in the way, but the National Guard really helped out.
That was excellent. The meteorologist at the end perfectly and succulently described, and it's hard to put into words, what happened in Western North Carolina. Thank you.
I also want to add, Helene was not only INCREDIBLY and DEVISTATINGLY strong, it also lasted a long, long time, and went incredibly far north. The last hurricane to hit Ohio was hurricane Ian, from what I remember, which I wasn't alive for. Helene hit us, too. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was in the south, but there was still damage. I was at school, going home, just waiting for the bus at the bus stop when Helene hit us. There was no shelter. For the first time since I was 5 I was LIFTED OFF MY FEET by the wind. For context, I am 225 lbs. I'm not small. I remember after the storm there were some trees damaged, scattered around the sidewalk. Some just lost large branches, and some fell over completely. I pray for everyone who got caught in this tragic storm.
My heart goes out to all those impacted by this deadly storm. The more I see the more my heart hurts for you all. Huge hugs from Australia ❤❤❤
Ah Tuna so cute! thank you for taking care of him during the storm. WOW this was a frightening watch i cant imagine being in a situation like this one. Glad everybody safe. Helene will be remembered for a very long time she brought death & destruction to alot of people in Fl, GA, WV, eTN & wNC. I've never seen devastation like it. Thanks for sharing, stay safe! ❤👍
Minor point of criticism fellas, you should have really been wearing helmets or hard-hats when going outside in the storm. Sounds silly, but it might save your life. Great footage!
A good motorcycle helmet.
Maybe they didn't have helmets not everyone has them just laying around
@@suzannewhitsett7516 when you're chasing storms, as they are, there's a certain level of preparedness needed. Which is something they took well into consideration. It's just adding helmets to be a part of that consideration
@@suzannewhitsett7516if you have enough money laying around for all these fancy cameras and go-pros, you have enough money for a climbing helmet, or literally ANY type of helmet.
3:41 Two of them are.
Having been through Irene in VT and being a weather nut I could see this coming and warned friends and their friends in NC, Asheville area. I tried to explain but just did not get through and no one left or prepared. My heart breaks for what they are going through. Musicians Mission of Mercy in Asheville has been providing aid long before this happened as well as PTSD assistance if you are looking for a good group to send aid, supplies to. They are very responsive, 501C3 and people already know they are out there helping in case you want an established group to work with to send anything. We plan on sending for a year monthly. It will be a long long process. The scars are still evident in Vermont and that was 14 years ago.
Max! Coming to you from 6A Social Studies at AMCS! LOOOOVE your footage! Fayk still rocks! Whole class loved it! "Super dope! - Super Chill - Perfect! Much love to Trent" - 6A. Take care buddy! Stay in touch! -Mr. Skoog
Insane how fast that current is ripping around the condos stilts. People think it’s not that bad I promise you can’t swim against that current. Great coverage guys.
Tuna! I love cats so much. Really good video :)
I live in Mount Holly, not many ppl realize we got flooded along with west charlotte when the hurricane came thru but wnc got it bad with landslides and flooding
I'm on the NC SC border and this is the first time I heard of any damage in Mount Holly , I have watched dozens of videos and NOBODY has said anything about it . I use to live in Bessemer City and went to Mount Holly a lot to camp when my children were small. Glad you are alright, was there any lives lost ? I hope not.
@ all of the homes and the set of apartments by the river on hwy 27 at the underpass by Dutchman’s creek and the Meck/Gaston county line got flooded up to the roofs … there is a TH-cam video I’ve seen talk about it but the homes on the charlotte side got flooded to by the river
I do not understand why in America, in a hurricane zone especially, they do not build brick or concrete block houses?? Is it very expensive there?
I am american and wonder the same, its all for cheap and saving money. I left some comments encouraging people to rally up for brick and limestone foundations and look at places built for water accommodation and flooding. Its all made of brick and limestone.
Wow, some nice footage there. When you see the drone footage of homes sitting peacefully in a calm field of water and as the drone pans out you see a house roof poking out of the water you realize you were looking at the second story of a house sitting peacefully in a field of water, not a bungalow.
Great documentary
Thank you very much!
Thank you for sharing this content with us, you did an amazing job of capturing not only the storm but also the lasting effects of these storms on the people who live near them! I'm so intrigued by the storms themselves that I forget the real world effects to the people that live near them, excellent work!
The cat is awesome and its hilarious cause we found a kitten in July that we have kept and named Tuna
My parents and I here in Newland North Carolina now have our home back after a little over a month of repairing and replacing the flooring and paneling of the walls along with new furniture, a new stove, new cabinets along with a new microwave and a washing machine and dryer we are very thankful and blessed to have our home back. It stinks getting completely flooded out of your home I don't trust floods anymore and
I'm terrified even more of floods now.
Referencing the chart at 27:58, Busick got 30.78 inches of rain. Busick is basically on the slope of Mount Mitchell. Do you realize how absolutely insane almost 3 feet of water being dropped on the entirety of the highest mountain east of the Mississippi river is and what it does do the communities down hill which also received crazy amounts of rain? It is literally mind blowing.
Thank you so much for saving Tuna! I moved down to St. Pete less than two weeks before Helene hit. We live in a zone A flood zone and being in a mobile home park, are supposed to evacuate if an evacuation order is given. Well, our neighbors swore up and down that it hadn't flooded there in decades. So we along with many others stayed. We rode out Helene just fine, no damage, until the storm surge came around midnight. We lost two motorcycles and a car, but were lucky enough to not get any water in our mobile home. High tide was at 1:58am and at that exact time the water started to recede. Rest assured, we took Milton way more seriously and evacuated. Again, our place had no damage, but some homes were leveled, as if a tornado came through the park.
10,000 dead. Hundreds still missing, tangled in 40 ft high mud and debris piles. Everyone in the region is traumatized. And still nothing from the government. It's horrible, 2 months later. Families in tents at 15°.
Can you do an depth report of North Carolina now? many of us, will never get to see this, if it isn't for you. Thanks brother.
Fantastic job documenting and putting all this together, Max and Aaron! Thanks for saving this adorable Kitty. The devastation is beyond imagination this Year. But consider not staying with Better Help; they are really fishy. But make sure you and esp Aaron has some time to calm down mentally he's been on a run in 2024 you are feeling this at some point
Have you checked with the condo owner to see where Tuna is now? I would NOT have left the cat there. Someone let him outside with a hurricane coming. The sweet cat deserves better.
Someone asked about Tuna towards the top of the comment thread. They tried contacting the condo owners about Tuna and they never responded. That tells me they dumped Tuna as soon as this crew left the area. 😔🤬
That's what I was thinking as well. How could they dump this cat???! Sounds like this crew took the first opportunity to leave kitty! #dobetter people want to help so please provide contact info and location so this cat can be #rescued #aspca
#humanesociety #peta #humanesocietyflorida
No way I'd stay on the coast during a hurricane
Thx for the footage
It wasn’t the coast! It was hundreds of miles inland.
The decade?!!
@@elizabethgregg9560You should educate yourself before speaking nonsense.. It hit the coast before it ever could reach inland
@ you should educate yourself. People who live on the coast do not have to leave every time there’s a hurricane. That’s why there’s categories. But I was referring to WNC, of course.
@elizabethgregg9560 BUT there is evacuations and there are folks that lose their lifes all the time on coast with hurricanes..
As someone who was in Hurricane Sandy, and a hurricane in my native West Indies, absolutely NOT a good experience.
Danke!
I live on Anna Maria Island can't believe the storm was so far away and did so much damage to us this storm was a beast
I just SUBBED UP. IVE NEVER seen your stuff being . What a FANOMINAL JOB. I've been looking for someone to explain how IT ALL BECAME SO CATASTROPHIC for the CAROLINAS. Unless I missed it ive never heard someone say the whole
DAMN side of the MOUNTAIN gave way. Now ITS ALL MAKES SINCE TO ME 🤦🏽♀️🤷♀️. I couldn't wrap my mind around they were saying . Just didnt click . Im in
DALLAS GEORGIA . I just now have been able to bring myself to start watching it all so if started at the beginning. it's just SOUL CRUSHING . MY HEART ACHES FOR EVERYONE WHO was AFFECTED. SEEING ALL THE DOCUMENTARIES. Im UNDERSTANDING WHOLE COMMUNITIES are GONE FOLKS BURIED THAT WILL NEVER BE FOUND . TOWNS , LAND, GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES ,JUST GONE . THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU GUYS DO . ALWAYS STAY SAFE TOGETHER. 🙏💯✌️🇺🇲
It also devastated east Tennessee as well.. it completely erased Erwin, TN from the map. The hospital was hit really hard and the Drs and nurses had to take the patients to the roof for emergency helicopter evacuation.. one factory made their workers stay working and the whole building flooded over the rooftop.. at least 6-10 employees were swept away.. noone here had flood insurance as we are in the mountains so the thousands of homes that the hurricane destroyed are just gone. FEMA offered $750 (🤬) for relief, which most were either turned down completely or only got half of it!! What made it so bad here is that it had already rained steady for 4-5 days before the hurricane hit so the ground was already over saturated.. Our dam gave way as well.. We got up to 52 inches in some areas!! Chimney Rock is completely gone! When the hurricane hit after all the rain we already had mud slides came down the mountains with no warning taking out every bridge that Erwin, TN had as well as state highway 21 and a big piece of I-40 was hit by a huge mudslide and completely washed the interstate away.. I am sure the death toll is close to or over 1000 people! There were also several spin up tornados as well!! By the time emergency personnel realized what was happening we only had a 5-10 minute warning so there was no way to get out and no where to go. Yes West NC got hit really hard but please don't forget us here in East Tennessee!! We still have SAR teams out trying to find the remains of the hundreds that are missing! FEMA is not doing anything for us!! I pray for all the states and people affected but it's like everyone totally forgot our little towns here! Oh yes it also snowed 5 inches 4 days after the hurricane!! So we had heavy rainfall for 4-5 days prior to hurricane Helene, then when it hit we got between 25-52 inches of rain, 100 mph winds, spinoff tornados, mudslides, and snow within a two week period!! The water was rushing at about 75 mph so we got hit pretty hard too!! They are calling this a flood of biblical proportions!! The last flood here was in 1916 and we got 30 inches more this time!!
I live in Lexington, SC. This storm was probably the worst one I've been in. We've been in quite a few severe thunderstorms but never something like this. The wind was howling, the rain sounded like bullets against the windows. We lost a tree in the backyard, the tree that's been back there for decades. Luckily it didn't hit the house but it did destroy the gutters.
We only got about 70-80 mph winds but that was enough for me! I couldn't sleep the entire night as it passed over us. My fiancé had been through a few storms so he was helping me get through it while I held onto him like a frightened cat lol.
We were extremely lucky though. I hope the communties that were affected rebuild even stronger than before. Rest in peace to all of those who lost their lives.
well done max
It's incredible how quickly a Natural Disaster can change everything.
I stayed anchored on my boat all night through the storm to save it because my dock flooded, if you want the whole story reach out to me
It’s so sad. People save all their lives for their dream beach house just to have it all ripped away overnight. Not to mention people’s entire livelihood…the business they’ve worked so hard to build…demolished….and people who lost their one and only home…where do you go, what do you do. Here, and in the mountains, the devastation is unimaginable. Thank you for keeping the story alive, and the need for continued help. This isn’t over!!
Extreme video 10/10
Great Documentary Max
Absolutely outstanding editing! Great job Max
Thank you so much!
Tuna my beloved ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
They left him!🤬 people want to help but these guys will not provide a location or contact info!
#karma will come for them
Thanks for saving that cat,good hearted people u are❤❤❤❤❤
Wow, the speed and force at which that tsunami-like storm surge came in was terrifying. Seeing so much lightning in the eyewall of a major hurricane was also very eerie. This must have been insane to experience in real life. Hopefully the Big Bend catches a break from tropical cyclones for a while, since they desperately need it to rebuild after 3 impacts in only a year
I live in Chimney Rock , NC. There is no Fema or national guard. They were here for a week for photo opps and then they left. I faired better than most . I watched all my neighbors houses float by me. There are so many old couples who have lost everything. They have cried when I approached them in order to get them access to their homes. I refuse to ever ask for any government help. I have neighbors living with me and I have fed several families. My neighbors have been completely abandoned and they need government help and the government is nowhere to be found. I did read today Biden has '''to return from his vacation to get more money for Ukraine and Israel''' his words.
I’m up at a college near Asheville that got hit really hard, and our school didn’t think we were gonna get hit at all, but obviously the worst happened. I personally was stuck on campus for 4 days without power or water until a friend could take me and my partner to get gas and leave.
7:49 hey so thank you so so so much for thanking that cat in.
At 25:38 is actualy Bills Creek, NC. I remember passing the white truck and trying to figure out what they were doing. I was the fire department that drove by.
It was gracious of you to rescue that cat. But it was foolish to leave her just on the chance that she might have terrible humans who left her to drown in the dark, alone. They can go to hell.
I experienced Helene and Milton back to back. The worst part is we couldn't evacuate because we have so many animals to care for, we can't ravel with all of them at once and transport me, my dad, mom and little brother. It was terrifying. I am 16 years old and have never been through storms this bad. Helene was big, taking out several states, Milton eas small but strong, took out almost half of Florida, I was without power for 2 weeks, because we have a full solar powered house, out solar panels were blown off
Southern Missouri got hit with flash flooding from extreme heavy rain and strong winds from Helene. And from Bernie to Sikeston, we were still recovering from the tornado that swept through at 7am on May 26, 2024. We had no warning in time to react. As soon as our phones rang the alert, the tornado was already on us in Dexter, Missouri. Helene just added to the devastation even though she hit us 4 months later.
Thank you for documenting and pointing out thst warnings and lead times were absolutely going out 48 hours or more prior to impact, too much misinformation floating around saying people didnt evacuate bc there were no warnings or forecasts about flooding. When in reality they were throwing up red flags left and right.
This is all so sad. People lost homes, everything.....no words to describe these storms anymore!
The hurricane was expected to hit my area, but it barely missed my location. Sending thoughts and prayers to who were impacted by Helene. 💔
Thank you for saving tuna! I love cats and that warmed my heart, I hope any stray animals were safe during this storm, heart breaking. You should keep tuna since he is a stray!
They let him go😢😡 people are trying to help but these immature fame hungry jerks will not respond to anyone🤬
Category one Deby crushed my trailer where I'd lived for 18 yrs.
It was totaled.
I still don't have a home
Valdosta Ga
@@angiedixon8017 Oh gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I honestly didn’t think Debby did all that much damage to the area, where was your trailer at?
Thank you
Valdosta Ga, near I-75, 5 miles from Florida
Amazing video!!
ith it. Asheville started flooding 3 hours before the hurricane even hit. There was no way they could prepare. They lost water for at least a week. Tons of people still don’t have water or a home or a job they can go to. Yes hurricanes have been terrorizing the coast for hundreds of years but never have they been a category 3-4 and destroy a landlocked place and make the landscape forever changed. You can’t rebuild whole miles of road washed away. All the houses around rivers and the rivers spread open 50 yards wide. It is the most awful devastation and destruction ever seen. Watch some videos on Lake Lure. The town of Marshall. Black Mountain. Chimney Rock. Asheville. Hendersonville. Any places I didn’t mention also around that area are completely destroyed too. The people didn’t get told to evacuate. We were told catastrophic flooding take necessary precautions. How do we know what necessary precautions are if we have never had anything like this ever happen?? It sounded like a train going through our house for 2 hours straight. Everyone do anything you can to help the people in WNC.
Also not taking away from any damage done in Florida Georgia or of course My state SC. Or Tennessee.
We missed the brunt force of the storm by a 30 minute drive. Having lived in and around the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially in the areas hit hard, it makes my heart hurt beyond measure. We only had to pump out 9,300 gallons from our deep crawl space and replace the 1 year old new ducts,HVAC system. We were lucky. :(
Just keep remembering the folks right up the road! The region and the folks who have homes here need our help more than many are aware of (outside of the media), especially while needing to get into a safe and warm place. It is supposed to snow again tomorrow,and quite bad.
The devestation I saw first hand, traveling to Burnsville at the end of October, felt like a warped version of what I have always known.
Praying for everyone 🙏...
Gaura nitai gauranga max,great presentation,best wishes
Nice job saving all those poor people Fema👌
Max, Awesome documentary!!
@@HurricaneXplorer Thank you so much David, it was great meeting you!
Great video, Max!!
Its definitely a competition between Beryl and Helene as the worst hurricane of the decade, Beryl destroyed Cuba, and almost every country near it, and after that, traveled up to Texas, and knocked us out of power for days (if not weeks) straight.
You mean Grenada?
@ Yes, i couldn't think of the name 😂
Best vid comp I’ve seen yet of this disaster thank you
Great job Max!!
I'm not even halfway done with the video and all I can think of is tuna. I really hope he ended up in a good and loving place/home if you all didn't keep him. 😭❤️🙏
It was interesting to see the before and after of the houses on Keaton beach. I had claims all those places but it’s always cool to watch your videos and see what caused those claims.
I got it in Western North Carolina.
and to think Milton came right after. I live inland, i'll probably always live inland, so i'll likely never truly understand the impacts these storms have unless I live on the coastlands. Thank you for giving folks a window to look through to see what kind of destruction and strange, horrible beauty these powers of nature entail.
ps; thank you for keeping little Tuna safe
I was in college when this hurricane hit! I was in Anderson Sc which is near where it disappeared. Had to cancel class for a week cause so many trees were down.
Few of my family members been in North Carolina since helping out there & it’s still bad they have work for a while smh 🖤🙏🏼
Awe. Love you saved Tuna. ♥️
When I saw Helene out in the gulf I thought it was going to be a weak storm but I was wrong it was a CAT 4 terror I’m so glad it was not a CAT 5 I watch on fox weather and it was a disaster see the places in Florida I visited get destroyed by Helene the storm surge the rainfall total was absolutely devastating rain fall totals up to 30ins so crazy I was by beryl but this is just the worst I ever seen in my life the crazy 20ft storm surge was terrible the damage was also horrifying in North Carolina was damaged above and beyond it look like a nuke was dropped absolutely horrible good job saving Tuna your the best Love you
-Jackson
Original projections had our workplace in the line of sight of the worst of the storm, and even up till that night before the shift. They still expected us to show up, work the shift. Despite no truckers willing to drive and deliver in it. And let us go an hour early, literally 15 minutes before the worst of the storm, would have hit. It turned and missed us, but how bad it could have been should have been enough. Over 150 people.
As always an excellent video.
I was hear in the livestream coverage of Hurricane Francine and Helene.
Here*
i wasn't impacted by helene directly, but Beryl's fragments sparked a very rare tornado warning in the middle area of new york