Family devastated by Helene spent hours trapped on roof when floodwaters rushed in
When Hurricane Helene's raging floodwaters rushed into John Zara's home in the Beacon Village neighborhood of Swannanoa, just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, he quickly hustled his wife, 2-year-old son and 7-year-old son to the attic.
Once in the attic, we "quickly realized that was not gonna be a safe place for us," Zara told ABC News. "So we climbed out a back window of my laundry room. And we were able to, kind of, swim around the corner, hanging onto some handrails and stuff. My wife got into a tree in the side yard, was able to get on the roof and get the kids up."
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, ABC News' "Good Morning America" is set to provide five days of special coverage titled "Southeast Strong: Help After Helene" (#SoutheastStrongABC), spotlighting communities across the Southeast impacted by Hurricane Helene and the urgent efforts to help them recover.
Zara said nearly every house on his street became completely submerged up to the gutters.
As Zara's family clung to their chimney, he said he could hear neighbors' cries over the sound of the rushing water.
"Some neighbors behind us were not affected by the flood, but heard some cries for help and came down in kayaks and started to, kind of, shuttle people back over," he said. "We had some folks over here that had to be saved from inside their attic."
Zara said his family was stranded on their roof for four or five hours.
"We were fortunate enough to be saved by our neighbors, but others stayed on their roof for six and seven hours before the National Guard was able to come in," Zara said.
Helene has wreaked havoc on Zara's neighborhood and the wider county, where at least 72 people have died.
One week after the monster storm pummeled their street, Zara and his neighbors returned on Friday to shovel and mop mud out of their houses.
Zara is looking to salvage whatever he can, including pictures of his two boys and his wife.
Despite the destruction, Zara is grateful.
"I’m lucky that my family and I were able to get out. We’ve got a lot of support from the community here -- people that are just showing up and helping complete strangers," he said.
What Swannanoa's residents need most right now is access, according to Zara.
"There’s potentially still people trapped in rural areas. As bad as this might look, there’s still other folks in dire need," he said.
They're also lacking water, power and phone service, he added.
Zara said he’d love to return to Swannanoa once they can rebuild.
"We’re just trying to clean it out and kind of start over," he said.
