Western North Carolina white-water rafters raced against time to save people from Helene’s flooding

MADISON COUNTY, N.C. - Experienced white-water rafters in North Carolina spent more than two weeks on the French Broad River after Hurricane Helene's flooding, rescuing their neighbors in extreme conditions. 

Brothers Jim, Mike and Mitch Hampton, along with Mitch’s wife Korey, are part of the swift-water rescue team for the Walnut Volunteer Fire Department in western North Carolina. The Hamptons own French Broad Adventures rafting tour company in Madison County, and across the family have more than 145 years of white-water rafting experience between them. That experience was crucial when the river they normally took groups along for a fun time turned angry overnight. 

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Jim Hampton told FOX Weather the calls for water rescues started coming in the morning of Sept. 27, the day after Helene's Florida landfall, and just kept coming.

A Helene flooding rescue by the volunteer Walnut Fire Department swift water rescue team and French Broad Adventures. (Mitch & Korey Hampton)

Hampton said the hardest part was finding time to allow himself to rest between rescues. 

"Adrenaline is a wild thing and, cortisol and, you know, you're just amped, and you can't sleep," he said. "You almost have to crash out from exhaustion, and then you're doing it again the next day."

A 24-foot ladder and a successful water rescue

For 15 days after Helene’s flooding, the team was out on the French Broad River with dogs and military partners scouring the banks for survivors. One of those calls was for a harrowing rescue at the Iron Horse Station, a landmark inn in Hot Springs.

"There were five people up in the top story. The water was rising, and there was a concern about the hotel being compromised with floodwaters," Hampton said. "A lot of debris was coming down, you know, coming from that river into that area."

Hampton said the rescue team was able to access the building and get everyone out using a 24-foot ladder anchored to a conduit pipe.

"It actually went pretty smoothly, considering, once we committed to our plan," Hampton said. "Then, we were on another call."

However, there are moments on the French Broad River that Hampton said will continue to haunt him.

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The swift-water rescue team attempted to reach a man clinging to a tree on the river. Ultimately, the rescue was too risky, and the man was swept away. 

Jim Hampton, a member of the volunteer Walnut Fire Department swift water rescue team along the French Broad River. (Mitch & Korey Hampton)

"There was debris everywhere, and if our 13-foot boat hit the tree trunk, we would have capsized and been done," Hampton said. 

More than a month after Helene, the Walnut Fire Department continues to get calls for swift-water resources, but it’s for when a body is recovered. The death toll in North Carolina topped 100 people this week as recovery efforts continue across the area with an estimated $53 billion in damages from Helene. 

Hampton said the community of western North Carolina is what made the Herculean rescue effort possible. 

"If it wasn't for the community circling the wagons around us and everyone in the community with food, with support, who knows if we could have even kept up," he said. "This whole thing has really brought about a sense of community and pride."

Read more of this story from FOX Weather.