Storm chasers tell the stories of deadly North Carolina floods while providing help

AccuWeather

Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby spoke to AccuWeather about the massive scale of tragedy in western North Carolina and how people are helping others amid the destruction.

Transcript

00:00We're joined now by storm chaser Aaron Rigsby from the Old Fort area that's just east of Asheville.

00:06Aaron, when we last talked to you, you were on your way north late last week,

00:10and we understand you've been working to get help to resources to those in need.

00:16Yeah, good evening, Jeff. That's absolutely correct. This town is basically the forefront

00:21of where I-40 westbound is closed, so a lot of that traffic is being turned around and diverted,

00:26and if you could believe it, this gas station behind me in this whole area at one point was

00:31under feet of water, but today it's basically the headquarters of the supplies that's going to be

00:37coming to this area and provided for a lot of these communities, and I tell you, the longer

00:41I'm here and the more stories I hear, it's just the sadder it gets. You know, there's no other

00:46really way to put it. A lot of folks are coming down from the mountains to get some of the

00:50supplies for people that have been completely cut off and are still trapped due to the river

00:55washing away the roadways or the driveways to get to public access and get more food and water

01:00up to those mountain towns. I know that you've been on the ground there all weekend. What's it

01:08like there? What are some of the things that you've encountered, and what are some of the

01:11people's stories? Anything that sticks with you here? Any particular story come to mind?

01:18Yeah, well, absolutely. It's been a variety of different stories that I've

01:22heard from people. Some were here for a wedding, and they ended up getting cut off at their Airbnb

01:27and had to navigate over the debris to get out and get to a place where they can communicate

01:32with people and left all their belongings behind, only to basically get locked out and not be able

01:37to get back to their supplies, so they're stuck there as well. And then right here, I spoke with

01:42a woman earlier as we gave her a couple of cases of water, and she was nearly in tears telling me

01:46that her husband works for Duke Energy, and she's been by herself for three days. So, you know, it's

01:51just heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story, and the more that the service starts to

01:54come back in these areas very slowly, the more we're starting to realize the scale of this

01:59devastation left behind. It just seems like mountain town after mountain town has been

02:03severely damaged or wiped out, including this town over here beside me. I mean, it's basically just

02:09buried in mud at this point. There's trailers that have been moved from their current location

02:13into others, and it's been the same case at any town that has been near the river that I've come

02:18across. What does this compare to the storm surge flooding that you began this storm by covering

02:26in terms of scale or anything that jumps out at you comparing those two aspects of this storm?

02:33Yeah, so basically, if you take that storm surge and the damage that we saw from that and the

02:38impacts that it had and spread it over the entire Appalachian Mountains, that's essentially what

02:42we're dealing with. It's that serious. I mean, it's just no other way to put it, especially,

02:46I mean, there's buildings that have literally been moved. The rivers and stream here are

02:50basically unrecognizable. I mean, they've almost doubled in size, have cut new ways through the

02:55earth where homes once stood. And when I was over in Chimney Rock, I had my drone up in the air at

03:00one point talking with a couple of locals, and they told me that there should have been houses

03:04there. And now it's just a very wide river where those houses once stood. So, you know, I can't

03:09imagine how many houses have been lost, and we still have over 700 unaccounted for from Hurricane

03:15Pauline. It's an awful, awful situation there. And again, the death toll has risen and will

03:21continue to rise, it seems, as some of those who are not accounted for are being accounted for

03:26with the unfortunate results. Aaron, anything else you want to leave us with here? I know

03:30you're doing some good things here on a personal level, helping people in need.

03:35Yeah, absolutely. Last night, you know, before I went to bed, I've been so exhausted the last

03:39several days just covering such a large area that I couldn't wait to wake up, and I immediately

03:44went to the store and bought a bunch of cases of water where I brought, I was originally going to

03:49Asheville, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise that I couldn't make it, because that's

03:52how I stumbled across here in Old Fort, where I met a couple of locals from Hickory, where we

03:56actually went back into town, gathered more supplies and donations, and brought another

04:01load of food and water for the residents here that have been just super grateful for the donations

04:06that they've gotten. And to be able to provide some relief to these folks around here has been

04:11very satisfying. It makes me grateful that I could be here and at least play a small part

04:14in the recovery efforts and give some people some hope. All right, well, thanks for all that you're

04:18doing, Aaron Rigsby, and also the stories that you're telling, they're important stories for

04:21others to hear here in Western North Carolina.

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