Hurricane Helene: Sarah Craven's Personal Journal

Editor’s note: In late September 2024, Sarah and her boyfriend Mason drove 10 hours to North Carolina for a weekend wedding—she was a bridesmaid and he was the best man. There were storm warnings that caused some guests to stay home, but Hurricane Helene was not expected to hit the Asheville area. Neither was it expected to land near the wedding site, located 20 miles from the couple’s hotel. But when the storm unexpectedly arrived, the damage led to Sarah and Mason being stranded among strangers with a nearly empty gas tank and no way to contact family or friends. That is, until Sarah’s family and Zeta sisters took great measures to find and rescue them.

9/26/24 Day 1: Arrival

We got to the Holiday Inn Express in Woodfin, North Carolina, 10 minutes north of Asheville, around 7 p.m. Thursday. and were back at the hotel by 9 p.m. We talked to the concierge, and he eased our mind about the approaching storm. We stocked up on snacks from the hotel lobby, which wasn’t much. Mason had a bad feeling about the storm the entire time, but no one around us seemed to be too concerned.

Watching the news, we realized Asheville was in serious danger of record flooding and landslides. We contacted all of our friends, expressing our worries. Over half of the invited wedding guests had already cancelled due to the risk and travel restrictions. The rest of the bridal party felt confident enough in moving forward with the wedding plans. They were all staying on a different property, about 20 minutes from us in Marshall. It rained hard starting around 11 p.m. and through the night.

9/27/24 Day 2: The next day

We woke up around 4:30 a.m. and turned the news on to see what was happening. The worst part of the storm would hit Asheville head on. We tried to get more sleep, but in those early morning hours, the rain and wind (up to 70 mph gusts) sounded like a freight train outside our hotel window. Helene remained a Category 1 hurricane until right before it hit us. The Asheville area ended up getting 20 inches of rain in two days. Luckily, no damage occurred to our car or the hotel, other than some leaks from the ceiling in the lobby.

In the late morning, we spoke to the bride and groom. They said that the damage in Marshall was minimal and they would keep us updated. This was before the Marshall Dam broke. We spoke to a couple more friends and family members, assuring them we were OK. Around 1 p.m., we lost service to our phones. No texts or calls in or out.

We were running low on food and water, and were told there was a Publix supermarket about 10 minutes north that was open. We only had about 85 miles of gas left, but every single interstate that led out of the city was closed. We decided to try Publix. This was the first time assessing damage from the storm. The amount of fallen trees and power lines was unreal. We had to drive a bit off the road a few times to avoid them. We couldn’t find the Publix (I forgot how much we rely on GPS these days), so we went back to the hotel. We realized it was too risky to try and make it to the rehearsal dinner at 5 p.m. We also figured it was cancelled.

I went out in the lobby looking for food. Two ladies graciously offered me some of their food from Publix. Our dinner was a pack of tuna, a few pretzels and some BBQ chips to share. At this point it was getting dark and the lobby started to fill up with stranded people looking for a place to stay. Multiple families with young kids got turned away because there was no vacancy.

In our room, I tried to wash my face, but the sink wouldn’t turn on. The hotel had run out of water. So now we had no running water, no A/C, no electricity, little drinking water and little food. We cracked the window for some air and went to bed.

9/28/24 Day 3: Wedding day

We desperately needed some food and water. On the interstate, we quickly discovered that north Asheville was flooded beyond belief. We both were speechless as our stomachs sank. It actually brought tears to my eyes. It looked like a river where there wasn’t supposed to be a river. Cars floating in intersections and houses with brown water nearly up to the roof. Absolute devastation. We made it to downtown Asheville and found a couple blocks that had power, but no operating gas stations. It looked like a ghost town.

At 8 a.m., we found the Publix. The parking lot was already full. We made it inside and fought the crowd trying to find nonperishable food. Most of it was already picked through, but we did walk away with some jerky, macadamia nuts, chips and protein bars. Now we had enough food to last us at least a few days. However, being a Type 1 diabetic, I only had about five days left of insulin. That was another major concern.

Hotel staff let us fill buckets of water from their indoor pool so that we could flush the toilet in our room. We then went on a long walk outside our hotel. Luckily the area around the hotel wasn’t too flooded. The walk was nice.

Saturday afternoon, we are coming to terms with the fact that we will not make it to the wedding. We are hoping the bride and groom, their families and our friends in Marshall are safe. We are getting used to the nonstop sound of sirens as the EMTs and rescue workers pass by the nearby interstate. I mean NONSTOP sirens all day long.

Mason went to the lobby to ask for spoons so we could eat some peanut butter that we got at Publix. To his surprise, he smelled something good coming from the kitchen. The staff was cooking a huge fresh breakfast meal. For the last 48 hours we had been eating nothing but crackers and other small junk foods. We both shed a tear or two while walking down to the lobby to eat a real meal. We were SO hungry. We thanked the staff and they gave us hugs. They said the food in the freezer would go bad soon and a guest let them use his propane griddle to cook it. We were so grateful to have a warm, hardy meal of quiche, bacon, sausage and potatoes. Our first truly happy moment of this trip! The staff here have been amazing.

We feel like we’ve been through battle. And we didn’t even get the worst of it by far. Mostly we feel bad for our family, not being able to communicate to them that we are alright. We also are so scared of the unknown—if our friends are OK and when gas stations will have power. We do feel grateful that we are unharmed, have a roof over our heads, a comfy bed to sleep in and we are together. We realize thousands of others aren’t as lucky.

Around 11 p.m., we had a blip of service come through our phones just for a few minutes while we were asleep. We received a few messages from family and friends. We were able to get a text through to one of Mason’s friends that we were OK. But unable to contact anyone else.

9/29/24 Day 4: Rescue day

Around 8 a.m., we got dressed with the few clean clothes we had left and went outside to try and get service. It was a beautiful sunny morning. I was told by staff that they were not kicking anyone out, whatever their check out date, only turning people away since they were at full capacity. A guest showed me videos that looked like a movie. She was walking through her house in waist deep water, gathering what she could as her grandfather was trying to cut the power so they didn’t get electrocuted. To be honest, she smelled very bad and I could tell she was in the same clothes. Who knows the conditions of the water she was walking through. She said every other house around theirs had been washed away and they escaped just in time.

Still no luck getting cell service, but we were enjoying the walk up the hill. We made our way back toward the hotel. Once we reached the parking lot, we heard Steve, the concierge we had become friends with, yell “Mason! Someone is here for you!” We both gave each other a curious look, not knowing who to expect. As we quickly approached, we were met by a woman we had never seen before (Malaea Nelms Seleski, Eta Rho Chapter at University of North Alabama). She said, “I’m Malaea. Are you Sarah and Mason?” We nodded, and she said “KP sent me!” I was immediately confused, trying to figure out who KP was. And then she said, “KAROLINE! Karoline Park!”

I can’t explain the feeling after I connected the dots. An emotional wave swept over me. My college roommate, golf teammate, ZTA sister and best friend had found us! Malaea gave me a big hug, as I tried told hold back my tears. She explained that she and Karoline had worked together for ZTA, and that she and I were in fact zisters! Talk about a full circle moment. Her phone had service, so she immediately put Karoline on the phone. We both cried a bit and I thanked her for finding us. The service was going in and out, but all I could say was: “Please tell my family we are OK,” as I’m sure they had probably already called the FBI and reported us as missing. Malaea explained that she and her husband lived just up the hill and that we could stay with her. They had service, a generator and a little running water left. I looked at Mason, still in shock. We immediately accepted her gracious offer.

The rest is a bit of a blur, in the best way. Malaea called my sister for me and I finally got to speak to my family. I could hear the fear and relief all at once in their voices. We then followed her to her house, driving through the most beautiful neighborhood we had ever seen. Amazing homes with views that overlooked Asheville and rivers and mountains in the distance. There, we met her husband Dave and their two adorable dogs, Matilda and Fling. She showed us to the guest room and where we could shower for the first time in three days. We spent the rest of the afternoon contacting family and friends. By some miracle, our friends had pulled off the wedding! Everyone was safe and accounted for and love prevailed.

That evening, Malaea made us a delicious warm meal, and the four of us sat around the table and had great food with great company. Then, they invited us with them on their evening walk with the pups. It was the first time in four days that we felt peace, happiness and safety. We got some sleep that night, but we were anxious to get home the next day.

9/30 Day 5: Making it home

We packed our things, eager for the arrival of the groom’s parents, from the Marshall wedding, with gas for our car. Malaea made me a cup of coffee with the little water that they had left. The running water had stopped earlier that morning, but Malaea had filled as many containers with water beforehand, so they’d hopefully have enough to last a while. We said our goodbyes to Malaea and Dave. It was hard not to get emotional. I expressed to Malaea how grateful we both were. They had opened up their home and resources to us, without hesitation, during a time when they had also been going through hell. Many huge and historic trees around their beautiful property had fallen. Luckily, they did not have extensive damage to their house, but many neighbors weren’t so lucky. For the most part, we only encountered friendly people who banded together to help each other. I was impressed by the Asheville community when all was said and done. Leaving, we couldn’t help but feel terrible for everyone that lived there that would be dealing with this disaster for months.

Almost five months later, I am still in shock about everything that happened and how the power of sisterhood got Mason and I out of that situation. We had an entire crew of family and friends that were trying everything they could, but ultimately it was a Facebook post from my sister Brittany that led to my college roommate connecting the dots to find Malaea, who ultimately found us! It was a true group effort, and we are so grateful for everyone. I have no doubt that if Malaea hadn’t found us, we would’ve been there for another week or two, and likely would have run out of food, water and medication.

With everyone that I talk to about this disaster, I tell them we were the lucky ones. I ask that people look into ways to help and donate to Red Cross relief funds if you can.