Under the Storm’s Fury: A Family’s Ordeal After Hurricane Helene
As Hurricane Helene battered the Big Bend area of Florida, Matthew Cloyd hunkered down at home, still pondering the storm’s expected trajectory through the Southeastern United States. Little did he know that the fury of the storm would reach his family, hundreds of miles away, in northeastern Tennessee.
Typically, tropical storms cause devastation primarily to coastlines. They can down trees miles inland or inundate areas with relentless rain. However, Matthew remained confident that his parents’ home, perched safely on a mound in the Appalachian foothills at an elevation of 1,700 feet, would escape any dire impact from Helene’s wrath.
That confidence was shaken abruptly when his phone rang. It was his mother, with alarming news: “Your dad’s in trouble.”
Helene had unleashed disaster across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, leaving behind wreckage, homes uprooted, and vehicles submerged in flood waters. As the storm advanced, it engendered myriad worries for Matthew and his family. “Is my dad safe?” he wondered, especially with more rainfall saturating an area already undermined by a previous storm system.
The Arrival of the Storm
On a Friday morning, rain from Helene’s outer bands moved into the Cloyds’ neighborhood, intensifying as the day wore on. Keli Cloyd, Matthew’s mother, had gone to work; meanwhile, her husband, Steven, remained home with the couple’s young goldendoodle, Orion. While Keli tried to reach her husband, Steven shared alarming updates from home, including videos of rising water in the vicinity.
As their communications continued, the situation began to deteriorate. Steven’s updates grew more troubling, revealing rising puddles and creeping waterlines that alarmingly approached their home. A band of rain resulted in flooding that Matthew thought improbable less than a day prior.
The Storm’s Clash with Reality
“Uh oh,” Steven texted Keli, nervously noting that the water was nearly reaching the front of their Jeep. Soon, the text alerts turned from bad to worse. “We are… trapped in the house; the basement is filling fast,” he messaged. Keli’s heart sank with each subsequent message as her husband’s tone escalated from casual concern to unmistakable fear. It was a haunting experience she had never encountered in their 36 years of marriage.
In the midst of this digital exchange, Keli had contacted their son Matthew, who was living in Rockford, Illinois. “Your dad’s in trouble,” she conveyed over the phone, voicing a chilling message that propelled Matthew into action. “What do you mean?” came his alarmed inquiry. “The home is flooded,” was Keli’s response, urging her son to navigate the ominous surge.
Through Debris and Despair
With resolve, Matthew and his brother prepared to traverse over 700 miles to locate their father. The storm had reshaped the terrain; pathways once familiar had been obscured by wreckage from the storm’s might. It was a journey made more treacherous as they confronted road closures and obstacles unleashed by Helene.
Upon the brothers’ arrival in Jonesborough, they found the devastation from Helene unmistakable. Streets were lined with waste and abandoned homes. Bridges were left scattered and disconnected from their approach to safety. They soon joined the overwhelming search efforts orchestrated by family, friends, and local authorities; all were intent on reconnecting with those who had gone missing amid the chaos.
As they continued their expedition, the family discovered Steven’s Jeep abandoned in a nearby field, revealing his ever-increasing absence. “Where could he be?” Matthew despaired, realizing the storm had possibly taken his father and faithful companion, Orion, away from safety.
Community on Alert
With heavy hearts, Keli, Matthew, and his brother turned to social media for assistance. Desperate pleas for any sign of Steven or Orion blanketed local platforms. Hope crept back in when a nearby resident reached out to say she had found Orion alive, giving the family an ounce of solace in their mounting despair.
The days rolled on—filled with mounting fears and the unbearable burden of failed connections, as the Cloyd family navigated a situation compounded by the loss and uncertainty engendered by Helene’s rampage. Matthew’s heartfelt pleas echo through them as they searched for answers: “Everybody deserves to be found.”
Haunted by a troubling stillness, the Cloyd family remains on the alert, combing through virtual communities and meeting with law enforcement—forever determined to locate their missing family member.
