A North Carolina couple was caught in a landslide caused by Hurricane Helen’s heavy rains, destroying their home and livelihood and leaving Lindsey Thomas unable to walk. I’m worried about how I’ll pay back my medical bills and rebuild my life.
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On the morning of Friday, September 27, Andrew Marsh and Lindsey Thomas were having coffee with two neighbors at their home in a small cluster of homes dotted along a winding mountain road in Marion, North Carolina, as they watched Hurricane Helen. I was waiting for it to pass.
They lived in a 500-mile area of the United States that Helen would travel to, including parts of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. But the couple wasn’t worried. They knew the storm was coming, but they weren’t told to evacuate because their home was high up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Still, they were prepared for the floods and had enough food, supplies and a generator to survive for a week or two “if it got really bad,” Marsh, a 34-year-old metalworker, told Business Insider. Ta.
But they didn’t know that several days of heavy rain from Hurricane Helen had weakened the mountain’s soil, causing a landslide that was heading straight down toward their home.
Marsh and Thomas were thrown off the mountain by a wave of dirt, rocks and trees that onlookers estimated was 40 to 60 feet high, destroying their home and livelihood within seconds.
The debris crushed Thomas, dislocating his leg and leaving him unable to walk. Marsh had “at least 50” flesh wounds and was unable to use his right hand as the muscle was cut through.
Helen is estimated to have caused up to $34 billion worth of damage
At least 215 people have been confirmed dead since Helen made landfall, making it the second deadliest hurricane in the United States in recent years, after Katrina in 2005.
Moody’s estimated on Monday that the hurricane would cause $20 billion to $34 billion worth of damage, with $15 billion to $26 billion worth of damage to real estate alone.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that only 4% of homeowners in the United States have flood insurance, and those who do may not be covered for floods and landslides. This is likely to be an expensive disaster for many.
Marsh and Thomas, 40, a yoga teacher and masseuse, will be following Thomas long after he leaves hospital. The couple told Business Insider they have had to rebuild their lives and careers from scratch, paying medical bills, claiming home insurance and dealing with the emotional shock.
Thomas and Marsh holding hands at the hospital. andrew marsh
Stories like Marsh and Thomas’s will become increasingly common as the climate crisis increases rainfall, which causes landslides in vulnerable areas, the researchers say in Earth Science Review. concluded in a 2016 paper published in the journal.
Natural disasters have already caused significant damage to the United States. Between 1980 and 2021, the country spent $2 trillion on immediate and long-term recovery, including infrastructure repairs, according to a 2023 study published in the Journal of Climate Change and Health. This was revealed in an article in 2017.
“Mud and water were forced into my nose, ears and mouth.”
Just before 10am, the couple heard a “deep rumbling” and “a loud crack like thunder” a few hundred meters from their home, before the ground fell out from under them, Thomas said.
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“It happened so quickly that I didn’t have a chance to react. The best way I can describe it is as if someone threw the house into a blender and pressed the puree button,” Marsh said. said.
Thomas added: “I just felt depressed. I remember my vision going from white to brown to black and mud and water being forced into my nose, ears and mouth.”
“I remember a very specific moment where I kind of surrendered and realized, ‘I’m dying right now.’ So I decided to soften that experience, to be more accepting and self-centered. I decided to move to a place where I recognized all my blessings.
“I gave up my cell phone, and it felt great to be free from conflict.”
That’s when she was “miraculously ejected” from the dirt she had slipped on and found herself straddling a tree trunk, covered head to toe in mud, about eight miles from where her home was. .
The former home of Marsh and Thomas in Marion, North Carolina. andrew marsh
It took rescuers hours to find the couple.
With some effort, Marsh managed to pull himself out of the rubble. He then helped Mr Thomas, who had lost the use of his legs, from the trunk of a tree, before digging his neighbor John Norwood out of the neck-deep rubble. Mr Marsh said Mr Norwood did not know where his fiancée, Julie Le Roux, was and he “wandered” to look for her. She was still missing on October 3rd.
Marsh found an empty Airbnb about 250 meters away and helped Thomas hobble into it. There, they were able to administer basic first aid about three hours after the landslide.
Norwood appeared two hours later, “covered from head to toe”.
At about 4 p.m., six hours after the landslide, rescuers were spotted crossing a 50-foot-wide stream of runoff. By midnight, the three were evacuated from the area by the North Carolina State Fire Marshal and treated for their injuries at a nearby hospital, which Thomas described as an “amazing” team of paramedics.
somehow cover medical expenses
“We’re both still in a lot of pain. The pain is pretty constant, but there are definitely signs that we’re getting better and that we’re going to be okay,” Marsh said.
Thomas and Marsh must now rebuild their lives. andrew marsh
While Marsh has access to a medical benefits package as a veteran, Thomas does not have active health insurance. Marsh said they would have to cover her medical costs “somehow.” However, it is unclear how he hired Ms Thomas, as he lost his workshop, van and equipment in the disaster, and Ms Thomas’ work relies on her body’s “strength and mobility”.
The couple had home insurance, but the insurance company refused to cover their loss because their home was destroyed by a landslide, not a flood. But Marsh said, “Even if we had homeowners insurance, even if it was paid in full, it wouldn’t replace our lives.”
For now, Thomas is trying not to worry too much about the future and trying to stay in the present, but he hasn’t fully realized that he doesn’t have a home yet.
Marsh’s brother set up a GoFundMe for the couple to cover medical expenses, temporary housing and living expenses once the situation stabilizes. Marsh said she is struggling with the idea of accepting help, but knows she needs all the help she can get right now.
“When this is all over, I plan to dedicate part of my life to giving back to the world,” he said.
