ST. LOUIS — The western portion of North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene.
St. Louis native Michele Turner recently purchased property in the North Carolina mountains, and escaped flash flood waters just in time.
Turner said she was very lucky to make it down her North Carolina mountain, leaving everything she had behind. Now she's preparing to go back to help rescue her neighbors.
It was only two months ago when Turner packed up her St. Louis life to build a home in North Carolina.
“I actually moved to the Appalachian Mountains and Green Mountain to open a retreat and a wellness space that is queer-friendly and people of color friendly, because there's not a lot of those resources,” Turner said.
That's an hour north of Asheville which has been overwhelmed by flood waters as Hurricane Helene turned streams into rivers.
The Governor of North Carolina said this is one of the worst disasters they've ever seen.
"Today, we did an aerial overview to see the damage here in western North Carolina and it is extensive and devastating,” Gov. Ray Cooper (D - North Carolina) said.
Turner said she barely made it out two days before the hurricane hit.
“We were already being hit by flash floods and tornadoes, and I drove through that. My only thought was to come to St Louis, because this is where a lot of my friends and family are,” she said.
Green Mountain, Burnsville and Spruce Pine have been completely devastated.
“Hurricanes don't come to the mountains, at least they have that haven't for a very, very long time, or anything close to this,” Turner said.
Railroad tracks were twisted and roads have been completely washed away making it nearly impossible to get to people.
FEMA has more than 90 search and rescue crews on the ground in the state.
“It's going to take all of us to come together to make sure we understand where the communities are that maybe we haven't gotten to yet and get those resources to them," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said.
Turner believes her home is gone but she's not sure if her friends and neighbors are even still alive.
“There's a lot of people that haven't gotten out. So it's, I know there's a lot of cleanup and recovery going on in places, but we're still search and rescue in the mountains of North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, Georgia and West Virginia. So we have got to do something,” Turner said.
She spent all of her time in her former hometown gathering supplies to make the trek back to her new home. She's expecting to hike at least 12 miles to get to people.
“There's another storm that is brewing. But we have seven days to try to get people out. So if I can, I have to try,” Turner said.
If you’d like to help the cause you can donate to her GoFundMe or Paypal, @MicheleTurner173. All proceeds will go to helping those in need.