Her two goats remain on the property where Melinda Williams' home used to sit. She says they were pulled away by floodwaters but thankfully are still alive.

"They are my babies," Williams said.

What You Need To Know

  • An Avery County woman was inside her home when it was washed away by floodwaters from Hurricane Helene

  • She ended up in the river and grabbed onto trees to make it out

  • She says she is grateful she and her two goats survived

Williams works for EMS. She says when Helene moved through, she came home around 3 a.m. to get her six dogs.

When she arrived, the water hadn't reached the bridge, but within 30 minutes she says it was underwater. She has lived on the property her entire life, so she never expected what happened next.

"I knew I wasn't OK but I didn't want anybody to risk their life to try to come and get me," she said.

Williams says the water came up fast and by 11 a.m. it was inside her home. She put her dogs on the bed but the bed started floating.

"You could feel the whole house shaking and it was like it was bouncing off the foundation. I'm like, OK, this is it. This is not OK," she said.

She said goodbye to her dogs and to her daughter in a voicemail.

"I was holding onto my door frame and at this point the furniture was floating in the house and it kept getting darker and darker," Williams said.

Her house started floating toward the river. She says when it smashed into a tree it exploded and she ended up in the river.

"The noise and sound of things hitting the house and the sound of things coming off the mountain sounded like freight trains," she said.

Williams says she grabbed for trees and struggled to get out of the water.

"My heart rate hit 34 and I knew my brain started screaming, you're going to die," she said.

She says she ended up making it out of the river. She hiked to her brother's house and then noticed she had a bad cut. Several days later she couldn't feel her fingers and was taken to Concord for surgery to save her hand.

Williams said she lost everything that night. The debris all over her yard and in the trees is a reminder every day.

She says she doesn't know why she made it or why the voices kept telling her to hold on and she would be OK while she was underwater, but she says she will do whatever she can to live a life that was worth saving.

"I'm certainly going to try. I'm going to try hard but I don't know. I think part of it might be to tell the story," she said.

Williams says she will rebuild but not in the same spot.

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