PENSACOLA, N.C. ( WJZY ) – Communities throughout North Carolina continue to recover from the destructive Hurricane Helene that moved through the area in September.
Many of those who remained in the area are now sharing their daring stories of survival, including Howard and Lisa Ray of Pensacola, North Carolina.
Buncombe County has by far most NC deaths from Helene: State data
“I just want people to understand that you can’t give up, you’ve got to push no matter what,” Howard Ray told Nexstar’s WJZY while recounting their story.”I don’t understand. We shouldn’t be alive. There’s no way, it’s all God.”
Lisa showed WJZY a short clip of a barren property where their home used to stand. The flooding swamped their trailer swiftly and violently, she explained.
“I just knew we were dead,” Lisa said while describing what she calls an act of God that gave the Rays a chance to escape. “The trailer started filling up, and it’s like, it’s like [God] opened a piece up and I just had to sit down on that couch, and we floated out.”