Pregnant woman survived Helene floodwaters by clinging to a mattress with her dog for 8 hours

A heavily pregnant North Carolina woman says she survived the dangerous floodwaters of Hurricane Helene by clinging onto a mattress with her dog for nearly eight hours.

Emily Russell, who is due to give birth in just weeks, found herself stranded inside her childhood home in Swannanoa for hours on Friday with no way of knowing if help was on the way — and as water levels continued to rise.

“I really thought I was going to drown in my own house,” Russell told WXII 12.

“It was literally like you were stuck on an island,” Russell said of the rising water, which eventually inundated her home completely. “I just didn’t know what to do. There was no leaving the house at that point.”

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The rapidly rising floodwaters forced Russell and her dog to climb on top of a floating mattress inside the home — where they were stuck for nearly eight hours hoping to be saved, she said.

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The mom-to-be watched from a window as cars and RVs floated by her home, and later heard part of her house collapse into the rushing water.

“When you start hearing that, it’s almost like a movie. And then the front door, the water pushed it in and it pushes in the backdoor. Within 30 seconds, it was from the ground to neck level,” she said.

Russell said she felt nearly every emotion during the agonizing eight hours she and her dog were floating on the mattress.

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“You go from the scariest feeling to almost peaceful because you were already so scared and your body’s getting cold from being in the water,” Russell said.

Fortunately for Russell, her husband David finally was able to reach her around 6 p.m.

“The minute I seen him, I just thought ‘This is my only chance to get out.’ So me and the dog took off down the front yard, but the currents were so strong that I only made it about 10 feet. I had to yell to them ‘I can’t walk anymore or it’s gonna take me.’” she said.

Russell, who doesn’t know if she and her husband will have jobs to return to after the storm, says she’s just lucky to be alive.

“It hits hard,” she said. “That’s how deadly this whole thing was.”

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