Private volunteers, including mules and helicopters, are helping to rescue victims of Hurricane Helen

Hurricane Helen: One of the worst storms in recent memory tore through the mountains of western North Carolina, leaving trapped victims in need of supplies and the assistance of a vast army of private volunteers, including muleteers and helicopter pilots.

Many thousands of people were still cut off in the Asheville area a week after Hurricane Helene struck the Florida Panhandle, destroying or severely damaging telecommunications infrastructure and leaving many routes inaccessible. The vast rescue effort that federal, state, and local authorities are doing has been made more difficult by the remoteness of mountain towns.

Numerous volunteer organizations have stepped up to support official disaster relief channels, continuing a pattern started by the so-called Cajun Navy, an impromptu flotilla of citizen volunteers who assisted in the rescue of Hurricane Katrina victims who were left stranded in Louisiana in 2005.

According to a 2023 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Helene is the deadliest named hurricane to strike the continental United States since Katrina, which claimed about 1,400 lives. Helene has killed over 200 people.

how many people are missing after hurricane Helen?

It’s still unknown how many individuals are missing after Hurricane Helene. Earlier in the week, officials estimated that the number was in the hundreds, but as communications gradually improved and storm victims who were trapped were discovered, that number has decreased. The Altitude Project, a collection of private pilots, is one of the volunteer organizations joining the relief effort. According to the group, it gathered US$200,000 in a single day this week to support operations.

According to Andrew Everhart, an insurance firm owner involved in the initiative, it comprises an “affluent network” of like-minded persons. According to him, among the volunteers are a professional racing car driver, the proprietor of a distribution and logistics business, and other individuals involved in the development of social media content and commercial real estate.

“It’s a lot of guys that have jets and helicopters and a lot of connections, and we just decided to lock arms and create our own thing and help people out,” Everhart said.

The Altitude Project has been supplying supplies to the Asheville-area areas affected by the storm, which dumped over 20 inches of rain in a few hours, from a 25,000-square-foot warehouse in North Charlotte.

“It usually takes the government three, four, or five days to coordinate a response, so we just decided to hop into action,” Everhart said.

President Joe Biden has authorized 1,000 active-duty military members to assist as part of the official response. Furthermore, the White House reports that 6,000 members of the National Guard from 12 states and 4,800 members of the federal workforce have been stationed on the ground.

There were an estimated 600 search and rescue workers scheduled to arrive, adding to the countless state and municipal rescue and relief teams.

People are volunteering to support such efforts.

According to co-owner Brook Barzyk, the aviation business Aeroluxe Aviation, located in Tennessee, deployed three Robinson 44 helicopters and its own ground staff to the region.

Aeroluxe, whose helicopters can each carry 180 kg of goods, has reportedly made 150 deliveries of gasoline, food, baby supplies, water, and Starlink satellites, according to Barzyk.

“When we’re landing in some of the communities where we’re dealing with residents of the communities, everyone has been extremely thankful and very, very helpful, to a point where we have to monitor them rushing the helicopter because they’re so excited, and it’s great for us, and it shows us that we’ve done the right thing by being here,” Barzyk stated.

In a Facebook post, Acme Aero said that it had retrieved 144 individuals on Monday, 120 of whom were over the age of 68. It also said that it intended to provide rural fire stations with up to 200 Starlink satellites.

Others have traveled overland on foot or on horseback.

After being unable to contact his parents in Little Switzerland, which is about an hour’s drive northeast of Asheville, Sam Perkins wrote a tale on TikTok detailing how he traveled 18 kilometers across mountainous terrain.

Perkins said, “My dad said it was like seeing an apparition.” “I was of course elated and started bawling and gave him a big hug.”

Based on their Facebook postings, the Mountain Mule Packer Ranch in Raeford, North Carolina, is sending supply mule trains into remote places.

According to its website, Mountain Mule Packers specializes in “extreme terrain pack animal supply trains” and provides services to military troops working in high-altitude and isolated places.