A Nashville man is back home after being trapped by the flood impact in western North Carolina.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Nashville man is back home after being trapped by the flood impact in western North Carolina.
Timothy Clements describes what he witnessed as a war zone and an apocalyptic version of what, normally, is his heaven.
His home-away-from-home sits in the woods, east of Asheville and about 15 minutes from Lake Lure, some of the hardest hit areas of what’s being named a “thousand year flood.”
“I have huge oak trees around my house,” said Clements, remembering the storm. “I would look at them and they were literally bending right and left and every now and then you’d hear and explosion and a tree would snap and it would fall and you would just pray, ‘I hope it’s not on my house.'”
After heavy rain fell on already saturated ground and trees toppled from powerful winds, Clements and his neighbors were left with no way out of their secluded development. Their bridge collapsed with water rushing on either side.
Thankfully, Clements said their developers got word residents were stranded and sent crews from South Carolina to make this temporary fix with dirt.
Clements said he had extremely limited phone service and wasn’t aware of the scope of the damage until he was on his way back to Nashville.
“I had no idea what I was going to see,” said Clements. “A perfect example, 45 minutes into my drive I saw over 14 power lines down or compromised by tree limbs hanging on them. That whole area is going to be without power for a long, long time.”
The typically five-hour trip back to Nashville took Clements 11.
“Roads are totally blocked off with trees, bridges are washed out, it’s just devastation everywhere and you don’t know which way to go,” said Clements.
Through it all, however, Clements said he saw the kindness of people’s hearts.
“People were bringing us water,” said Clements. “They were bringing us food, leaving it on the other side of the bridge so someone could cross the creek if they had to and get some food. It’s amazing the kindness of human beings.”
He said he wants to look for a way to give back to the community that served him in a time of need.
“We’re very lucky,” said Clements. “I’m a lot better off than a lot of the folks.”