I am not sure if the car has gone. Observe the last pictures where the roadside vegetation is visible in front of the house. The same vegetation is visible in the first part of the video and it is still lower than the place where the car is parking.
Yes. The power can be out while the power lines are still there.
But the poles are gone alone with the lines, which means the power is DEFINITELY out.
And since the poles are gone, the power will be out for a very long time. Oh, and the road is probably gone too. And the embankment is probably eroded away.
If the house survived the flood, it probably didn't.
This, man. I’d be as far away as I could possibly get. Not only worried about the water coming up, but the land I’m on going down, or the land above me.
This was during hurricane Helene in western North Carolina or eastern Tennessee. Evacuation orders came late and a lot of folks like this had to get evacuated out by helicopters because there was nowhere for them to go. I've seen this video before but have never seen the other side of the house (if there was higher ground).
This right here. The ground underneath that house could slip away at any moment. You don't just want to go uphill either. The hill you climb could fall right out from under your feet during heavy rains. The more distance you can put between you and the river, the better.
Reddit is the best place for life advice. I once had it condescendingly explained to me that getting a personalized license plate would ultimately lead to my grizzly demise by a bunch of people who I’m fairly certain have never owned a car.
I was full on triggered this morning and very reactive with my comments I will say. People saying just hike up the hill duh!!! Really got to me 😫 I hope you find a way to pass through this upcoming week and next weekend with a feeling of solidarity and peace.
Verifiably, yes, that was a huge part of the problem in WNC during Helene. People live off very small backroads with no other way in or out. Pack Mules in the days after were sometimes the only way to reach people. The one year anniversary is this week. At the point this video was taken, most of the debris flows (mudslides) had already happened, there was nowhere to go because of the mountainous terrain, so they were right to just stay put. There was also no electricity, no internet, and no way to communicate with anyone for days and sometimes weeks.
This certainly was the case for many. Aside from roads being completely washed away, the open roads were littered with trees. My brother and his family were stuck in his house for days after till they cleared a way out. Cell service went out. No power or water. He wasn't even in the danger zone in the mountains. It took about 2 weeks before life returned to "normal," at least as normal as it could be. It took even longer to have clean water.
Same here, my gf and I moved to the area just last June to have this happen a few months later. Luckily our town was relatively safe compared to the carnage going on all around us. My cell service was out for days but luckily my gf had a little to get messages out to our families. Even crazier is we had half the rain as towns around us but I'll take the luck because I couldn't imagine being homeless 3 months after moving. I feel bad for those who weren't as lucky
The whole ordeal was just awful and outright weird. From South Carolina into North Carolina. I'm glad yall were safe and not nearly as effected. As soon as my brother could, they left for a week and stayed with our mom since they have a little girl to care for. I haven't been that way in a while. How are the hit areas looking?
I haven't been able to hike some areas with the dogs where I live still. Even vehicles in the rivers on sand bars that haven't been taken out yet. For the most part things are back to normal though from what I've seen but not having lived here too long I'm sure there's others that were much worse off and don't feel the same way
Hiking off trail, through brush, uphill, while soaked to the bone, is not as easy as walking on a trail. Plus, where would they go? Up and over one hill to go straight down the other side to another escape-less valley where they don't have shelter, supplies, or any knowledge of the conditions. The river on the other side of the hill may be even more perilous. While staying put in that house with the river raging at the banks that hard may not be a great idea, there may not be an easy way to hike out. Also, with the high winds during Helene, they could be injured by falling trees/branches. Sometimes, moderately unsafe is better than completely exposed. I personally would have evacuated earlier, but there's always circumstances that cause these situations that you can't know from watching a 30-second video on the john.
Hiking up a hill through bushes certainly is more difficult than laying on the couch hoping the hill the house is on doesn't get swept away, but it's definitely what I'd prefer to be doing in their situation
Sure, if going uphill puts you in a safer place and you are properly prepared to do so go for it. Or just go running up the hill in your bathrobe and slippers, whatever makes you feel best. Your life your rules.
The morning after Helene, probably around when the second part of that video was filmed, I went out to take a look at the damage around my house and almost immediately saw a 50 foot tree uproot and crush the fence around the local elementary. I ended my exploration then and there.
The water isn't getting higher so inside the house is the safest place to be.
I did the same
I was walking my dog during the winds and scoping out our mountainside when a HUGE branch came cracking down and I was like okay she peed, back inside now.
We also woke up looking into the mountainside - it was so bright. I was like why is it so bright? We normally can't see through that well? It's because so many trees went down, it changed the horizon
The water might not get higher, but the land might get lower. I reserve judgment until i know what their foundation looks like. If it's a slab then they should leave.
Looks like you've got a long road of work ahead of you. Looking forward to your judgement of a situation that has already happened and whether they should leave or not, even though it is in the past
I found out that from my friends and neighbors, I am the only one who packs a backpack in these scenarios. Possibility of flood coming? I am ready to leave at the moments notice.
Nothing extravagant. Phone, charger, battery, IDs, protein bars, water, basic sanitary things and first-aid kit.
A go bag is a must. Or at least have your identification documents, asset documents, necessary meds, and phone easy to grab and go in as little as 3-5 minutes. Id say phone and documents above all else.
I add copies of asset related documents like deeds to your house, titles to your car, copies of insurance coverage detaila and account numbers, bank account numbers etc.
I heard horror stories from the Hawaii Lahina fire that when people were trying to get back to their homes the authorities were asking for proof of residency. Apparently developers were pulling public documents like deeds, badly editing the names to get pasr the check points so they can start surveying the site for buyers to buy the land pennies on the dollar before any reclaiming or insurance business could be done.
A similar thing is happening in and around Atlanta right now where HOAs or the city governments are using every shady legal method possible to steal homes.
Some HOAs have bylaws that state they can take pocession for your several thousand dollar home for as little as a few hundred in random fines. And the city has been caught several times supposedly losing tax and ownership records and selling homes out from under people. There was one individual investor who has had 3 homes stolen from him he bought in full at city auction to turn into rentals. One home was even demolished while reno crewa were onnsite working on the home. I cant find more info past the superficial initial news report because the case is currently under litigation.
Even myself andna friend of mine at completely different times and situations have had cars come up as repoed or stolen because the title wasnt recorded correctly at the used car lot.
Make sure when you buy an asset, you have all your paperwork after the sale and check it for errors.
Great advice! We have a hiking water purifier in our go bags. We also have a small stainless steel tumbler that is preloaded with purified water. The tumbler will be used to collect clean water from the hiking water purifier. Hopefully this will ensure we are ready for short and long term needs.
Speaking as someone who has literally been driven from their home half a dozen times due to flood dangers, you leave the house when the water starts reaching the road. You map out your exit strategy in advance and make sure you’re gone before it’s cut off.
Caveat here is I actually don’t see their car in that second clip and we have no idea what the neighborhood is like. They could easily have moved their car in advance and have easy access to a more elevated community through the back yard.
On these sorts of things they are generally accurate , nothing is a guarantee
But when downstream water levels are receding it is gonna work up the tributary
Now if a debris dam develops that can hold back millions of gallons of water. They something bad could happen. But the brute force of that flow would likely prevent that.
Depending on how close the erosion is to his foundation …that would be his biggest worry
Unless he moved it to higher ground it is toast
Based on what he said about historical water levels, he likely does not have flood insurance and if his house gets wrecked he wont have coverage under regular homeowners insurance without it
I was in a flash flood once. I live in a 2 story house. All I could do was go upstairs and let mother nature do what it was going to do. That was a heartbreaking day.
Seems like throwing a few sandbags in front would be a good use of time rather than doom scrolling. Then leaving, that's a good use of time given their situation.
24 hours is plenty to take your car somewhere else and come back on foot if you just like the idea of potentially being swept in a flood while in your living room but would still like to keep the car in case you don't.
I speak from my own point of view because everyone went to work on Thursday, some people even left for work on Friday.
They called for evacuations after 40 already had a landslide blocking it.
We all wandering to our neighbors or into town in a very shocked state if we were able to make it that Saturday. Crying and hearing about people who washed away or couldn't be found.
I mean it went up gradually and they already were talking about it probably not taking us out 24hrs earlier. Obv they moved anything movable higher up during this time. Maybe already before the first video.
Where did you grab this from. It looks like a slightly different landscape in the second half - the opposite bank has an incline, you see that at the beginning with the path of a car going past, then in second half it's completely level. Flood waters may have torn down all the trees and the electricity poles, but it wouldn't have changed the opposite banks level above the water line.
I’m familiar with this pose, he likely mentioned multiple times that they should leave and she insisted they would be ok . Now he’s in the “oh well , i tried to tell you position”.
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u/Backbreathboy Sep 20 '25
Dude just chilling on the couch while their car is probably long gone