Today, we drove and hiked back to Alan Fitzgibbons' property. This time, we were there to return calls from people who had inquired about their loved ones, letting them know that everyone was okay. We also had to cancel our trip to Italy since it was clear that we wouldn’t be able to leave here by October 2, when we were supposed to fly from Greenville, SC, to Milan. Thankfully, we had travel insurance. We called all our friends and family to inform them that we were safe.
We were at the Fitzgibbons' for about an hour when we heard more helicopters. One flew directly over us. Alan took out a large flag on a pole and began waving it vigorously. The helicopter was part of a Search & Rescue team, and they immediately lowered a man to speak with us. We told him about Faye's urgent need to get out of here and also mentioned Pat Archer. Lance and the rescue team quickly hiked straight down the mountain from Alan's to Faye's location. Search & Rescue successfully evacuated her that day, and they also airlifted Pat Archer right from her property. We informed them about others who needed to be airlifted, and since it was starting to rain, they assured us they would return first thing the next day to retrieve anyone who wanted to be evacuated.
We returned to our house and settled in for another evening. We tuned in to the emergency radio for updates on the disaster and were shocked by the reports about how Hurricane Helene had impacted such a large area of Western North Carolina. Tomorrow is another day.
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