BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
KERMIT, W.Va. — Members of the Kermit Volunteer Fire Department have made two trips to flood-ravaged areas in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Remnants of Hurricane Helene brought torrential rains to several states including the Appalachian Mountain area of western North Carolina.
The KVFD had a 53-foot box tractor-trailer parked at Kermit City Hall to collect much-needed supplies to deliver to that area.
People from the community dropped off supplies at city hall. Volunteer firefighters went out and got donations from those who could not make it to city hall, according to KVFD member Billy Davis.
Davis said citizens from the Mingo-Martin County area, along with churches and other groups, donated supplies. Tug Valley High School students also took up donations. The Williamson Fire Department also served as a drop-off location for the KVFD.
Kermit delivered bottled water, bleach, non-perishable food, diapers, dog and cat food and other supplies.
While in North Carolina, the KVFD rescue squad helped search for survivors and victims.
Davis, a longtime volunteer firefighter, was one of five who made the trips down to North Carolina. He said the devastation was terrible.
“This doesn’t look like a flood; this looks like the hurricane literally hit there. Everything is gone. The only way you can describe it in one word is ‘horrific.’” said Davis.
“There is nothing left of Marshall, North Carolina. It destroyed 14 businesses including Marshall City Hall and the Police Department. The good thing is everybody got out before the water got into town. Every first floor in Marshall was underwater,” Davis stated.
After the KVFD members dropped off a trailer load of relief supplies, they got their first assignment. They had the tough task of searching for bodies in cars along the Asheville riverfront area.
“A lot of people were in cars when the water came up and we started checking cars to see if anybody was in them. We put a giant ‘X’ on them when we cleared them,” Davis said. “Unfortunately we did find a 30-year-old woman who was deceased.”
The KVFD team’s training in swift water rescue, search and rescue, and other skills are in high demand in the region at this time.
The team maneuvered around backroads to reach devastated area where so many roads were washed out.
Davis said hotels for hundreds of miles are booked solid. Victims who have lost everything occupy most of them while relief workers use the rest.
Davis and the team from Kermit bunked in the camper of a friend near Douglas Lake outside of Dandridge, Tennessee.