HENRY COUNTY, Va. – Deputies with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office recently returned from assisting in search and rescue in Western North Carolina.
In Helene’s aftermath, Sheriff Wayne Davis said he reached out to his counterparts in North Carolina to see where their help would be needed most.
“The information we received back was that Buncombe County had been severely hit, and in fact, the Swannanoa region was in terrible condition,” Davis said. “They’d lost their infrastructure: many homes, families misplaced. And so we decided to target that area.”
A group of deputies, including Lt. Mitchell Turner, left on Wednesday morning. They focused on efforts to locate people reported as missing in Swannanoa.
“I’m glad to say the school we worked on predominately, all of those kids have been accounted for and we checked on quite a few of those children,” Turner said. “So it was very rewarding for us to go out and say ‘hey, are you ok, do you need anything, I know you’re in a remote area but is there anything we can get you.’”
The office also collected donations from the community to transport to the affected regions. They were able to deliver two trailers full of essential supplies on Friday.
“We would like to give thanks to ValleyStar Credit Union, Trinity Christian School, Ridgeway District Volunteer Rescue Squad, Travis Pruitt, Henry County Memorial Day Ruck 22, and the countless churches and people from this community who brought donations for the citizens of Buncombe County, NC,” the office wrote.
Davis said his team plans another visit in the coming weeks or months as more donations have come in.
“These communities will continue to suffer for weeks and months to come,” Davis said. “When this stops making national headlines, let’s not forget about these people. They’re still going to be in need.”
A team from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office deployed to Western North Carolina on Sunday.