‘God’s hand’: Myrtle Beach volunteers find love, perseverance along Helene’s bitter path

Editor’s note: This is the third and final installment of a three-part series from News13 reporters Adrianna Lawrence and Eric Cooper, who traveled into western North Carolina last week as part of a supply run from Myrtle Beach.

SOMEWHERE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, S.C. (WBTW) — Before News13’s reporting team could begin chronicling the devastation Hurricane Helene brought to western North Carolina, they had to get there.

And that turned out to be much easier said than done — but once Adrianna Lawrence and Eric Cooper pulled into the soft Appalachian valleys that shouldered Helene’s wrath, they discovered moments of humanity that played out thousands of times in thousands of areas just like it as a population came to reckon with their new normal.

What should have been a roughly five-hour trip from Myrtle Beach to Hendersonville that began on 7 a.m. Oct. 3 turned into seven — with an unplanned pit stop along the side of Interstate 20 in Florence County.

Two hours into the trip, a pair of tires blew and an axle broke off the 20-foot trailer toting supplies.

Volunteers knew time was of the essence, as people like Deena Moore of Polk County were struggling to make ends meet after Helene upended their lives.

“It’s just been really hard,” she said.

By 5 p.m., the caravan was running out of options, as officials set an 8 p.m. curfew for western North Carolina. A backup plan emerged when the supplies were transferred from a trailer to a U-Haul also donated for the trip.

Generous strangers in Spartanburg opened up their home for an evening, cooking everyone dinner and allowing for a full night’s sleep.

As the mountains grew closer the morning of Oct. 4, cell phone service died, and volunteers turned to walkie talkies to communicate.

A setback, yes. But the goal hadn’t changed.

“You know, bottles of water. A toothbrush. I mean, deodorant. All these little things that we just don’t even think about every day, people up here are just in desperate need of that,” Myrtle Beach resident KJ Jordan said. “They’re just trying to survive right now.”

An unplanned turn into Rutherford County near Lake Lure brought back memories for Jordan, who grew up in the area along with his sister.

Then, a stop at Issac Alredge’s Rock Springs Baptist Church.

“We’ve been trying to get some supplies here to get out to the community, but with the lack of communication a lot of people haven’t been able to get in touch with family and friends,” he said.

Something amazing happened next. Jordan and his group of Myrtle Beach volunteers unloaded half the supplies and left them in Alredge’s care.

An obscure church in rural North Carolina — its parishioners stricken by an unforgiving storm — calmed and nurtured by Grand Strand strangers.

“I just stop though, and you guys had supplies ready for us. I almost broke in tears just at the situation that we’re in here,” Alredge said. “Needing to give out food to the community and not knowing who needs what and when, and then not knowing how we were going to get supplies in.”

That wasn’t all. Jordan handed Alredge $1,000 in cash for use for a neighborhood lunch. All the money came from donations by Myrtle Beach-area residents.

Jordan looked back on the whirlwind trip, and could only think about God.

“It was a long journey getting up here, with a couple of tires and an axle blown. I feel like Satan was trying to prevent us from getting here, but God had a plan for us. And I feel like we made it work,” he said.

Prayer wasn’t ever far away from the anguish.

“It’s just God’s hand. It was meant to be,” Jordan said. “I mean, we’re where we were supposed to be. And there’s no doubt in my mind. Everything happened for a reason.”

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12 . See more of his work here .

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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook , and X, formerly Twitter . You can also read more of her work, here .

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Eric Cooper is a multimedia journalist at News13. He joined the team in September 2024 and covers stories in the Pee Dee. He is a native of Cades in Williamsburg County and a proud graduate of Kingstree Senior High School and Benedict College. You can read more of his work here .

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