Greensboro woman stranded in flooding who made it home returning to help neighbors

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in western North Carolina, especially in Montreat, which is located just north of Black Mountain in Buncombe County.

That’s where catastrophic flooding caused Laura Williams to be stranded at her family cabin for days with no power, water or service.

“The town completely flooded. Water started coming from all the creeks everywhere. Roads started going into the rivers … Bridges taken out. Electrical lines all completely down. The one road in and out of town, one of the lanes collapsed in the river,” Williams said.

After three days of being cut off from the rest of the world, crews finally made it to her area to provide temporary bridges.

“They’ve already started the process of putting dirt back behind it so that people can continue getting in and out, but the infrastructure has taken a lot of damage,” Williams said.

On Sunday, Williams and a few friends made the trek back to Greensboro. A trip that is typically a two-hour drive lasted nearly five.

She says she had to take I-240 because a section of I-40 had become impassable.

On Monday, Williams and her dad decided to load their truck with supplies from Costco to head back to Montreat to help their neighbors.

While Williams could stay put in the Triad area, she says helping western North Carolina is a top priority.

“I really want to help them out … My parents got a couple of generators. Nobody has electricity up there … A couple of generators can really help,” Williams said.

Williams and her father plan to head up to Montreat on Tuesday morning.

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