The Altitude Project has been running supplies from a 25,000 sq ft warehouse in North Charlotte to communities near Asheville devastated by the storm, which dropped about 20 inches of rain in the region in a matter of hours.
“It usually takes the government three, four, five days to coordinate a response so we just decided to hop into action,” Everhart said.
The official response includes 1,000 active duty military personnel ordered to help by President Joe Biden. In addition, 4,800 people from the federal workforce and 6,000 National Guard personnel from 12 states have been deployed on the ground, according to the White House.
Another 600 search-and-rescue personnel were due to arrive and supplement the untold number of state and local rescue and relief teams.
Volunteers are stepping up to bolster those forces.
Tennessee-based flight company Aeroluxe Aviation brought its own ground crew and three Robinson 44 helicopters to the area, co-owner Brook Barzyk said.
Aeroluxe has carried out an estimated 150 deliveries of water, food, baby items, fuel and Starlink satellites, Barzyk said, with each helicopter able to carry 180kg of supplies.
“When we’re landing in some of the communities where we’re dealing with residents of the communities, everyone has been extremely thankful, and very, very helpful, to a point where we have to monitor them rushing the helicopter because they’re so excited, and it’s great for us, and it shows us that we’ve done the right thing by being here,” Barzyk said.
Acme Aero said in a Facebook post it has recovered 144 people on Monday, 120 of them over the age of 68. It also planned to deliver up to 200 Starlink satellites to rural fire departments, it said.
Still others have gone overland on foot – and hoof.
Sam Perkins posted a story on TikTok about how he hiked 18km through mountain terrain to reach his parents in Little Switzerland, about an hour’s drive northeast of Asheville, after he was unable to reach them following the storm.
“My dad said it was like seeing an apparition,” Perkins said. “I was of course elated and started bawling and gave him a big hug.”
The Mountain Mule Packer Ranch in Raeford, North Carolina, is running mule trains of supplies into isolated areas, according to its Facebook posts.
Mountain Mule Packers specialises in “extreme terrain pack animal supply trains” and services to military units operating in remote and high-altitude areas, according to their website.
