DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A Walpole woman’s dream bachelorette party in Asheville, North Carolina quickly derailed when the group was caught in the middle of Hurricane Helene.
Kayla Donnelly was in the city with 10 others to celebrate her upcoming wedding, not knowing that soon they would be at the center of a massive natural disaster.
“There was a lot of noise, a lot of wind,” Donnelly said. “A lot of trees hitting the house. Around 6 or 7 a.m. I heard a group of my friends scream and I ran out of my bedroom and a whole tree just came through the living room of the Airbnb we were staying in.”
The damage outside was even worse, with trees down and roads caved in. Left with no food, water, or power, the only way out was down.
A man on the mountain was the first unexpected saving grace.
“We heard someone yelling, a man’s voice outside,” Donnelly said. “He told us that we’d be stuck there for weeks if we didn’t try to hike down ourselves.”
The three-mile hike took the group hours, and eventually they reached others kind enough to help them get home. They crammed into the back of a pick-up truck to head to a shelter, and eventually to a plane.
“I feel so grateful,” Donnelly said. “It makes me look at things so differently now. I’m so happy to be home.”
Now they’re desperately trying to help the people who helped save them. So far, they’ve organized helicopter deliveries, but the helicopter can only drop supplies since there is no clear area to land.
What’s needed now? More volunteers to help clear debris to make way for a real rescue.
“I just really want people to be able to get to them so they are able to evacuate,” Donnelly said. “They are living with trees in their own homes and we were just there a couple of days, and now they may face this for weeks. I can’t even imagine.”
Donnelly said one of her friends did have to go to the hospital when they returned home.
As for the rest of the group, the worst of their injuries were minor bruising from their hike down the mountain.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)