CHARLOTTE — Western North Carolina resident Colston Byrd is out of a Charlotte hospital weeks after a landslide from Hurricane Helene took his home out.
“I don’t have anything,” said Colston Byrd, a Hurricane Helene survivor. “I have one pair of shorts, this pair of pants, this shirt.”
Byrd spoke with Channel 9′s Erika Jackson about what happened on Sept. 27.
“I’m covered in blood and I’m shaking, and I realize, OK, this isn’t a story anymore. This is survival mode,” he said.
“This is where every single skill in my mind and my body is going to get me to stay alive,” he said.
Bat Cave digs out of Helene's destruction What’s usually a tourist destination in western North Carolina has been cut off from the rest of the world after Tropical Storm Helene.
Bat Cave digs out of Helene's destruction What’s usually a tourist destination in western North Carolina has been cut off from the rest of the world after Tropical Storm Helene.
Bat Cave digs out after Helene What’s usually a tourist destination in western North Carolina has been cut off from the rest of the world after Tropical Storm Helene.
Bat Cave digs out after Helene What’s usually a tourist destination in western North Carolina has been cut off from the rest of the world after Tropical Storm Helene.
Pedestrian bridge in and out of Bat Cave What’s usually a tourist destination in western North Carolina has been cut off from the rest of the world after Tropical Storm Helene. Now, all that connects them to the outside is a makeshift pedestrian bridge.
Helene aftermath in Bat Cave Once the storm settled, Andy Wells and his wife were able to return to their own home, finding their quaint riverside living room completely gone.
Helene aftermath in Bat Cave Once the storm settled, Andy Wells and his wife were able to return to their own home, finding their quaint riverside living room completely gone.
Bat Cave Post Office Andy Wells said when Helene hit, he and his wife first ran to the post office across the street. Now, it’s one of the only buildings left standing in the community.
Bat Cave pedestrian bridge Highway 64 once connected Bat Cave to more populated towns. Now, the only way in and out is over a makeshift pedestrian bridge.
Henderson County hit hard by Helene First responder rescue crews have a literal mountain ahead of them. They’re working each day to locate people in western North Carolina who are still unaccounted for after Helene.
Rescuers in Henderson County First responder rescue crews have a literal mountain ahead of them. They’re working each day to locate people in western North Carolina who are still unaccounted for after Helene.
The landslide turned his rental home in Bat Cave into a pile of rubble with no way to escape.
“It sounded like the volume of two gunshots on either side of my ears of every tree in the world just cracking all at once,” Byrd said. “And the wall behind me explodes with trees coming through and I run. I can feel all my bones here breaking and puncturing my lungs and organs there. And then I’m just like, covering up, while trees are falling on me, while I’m riding that house down.”
Landslide from Hurricane Helene takes home out with man inside
Byrd said he crawled out of the debris with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion.
He trekked hours through gushing waters to find a neighbor so he could send an SOS.
Byrd said it took more than 24 hours before a helicopter crew rescued him.
“It was like hearing The Beatles for the first time. It was like hearing love,” he said.