The Marine Patrol Swift Water Rescue Team of 18 members, along with an additional three Marine Patrol officers, deployed for about a week to the western North Carolina to assist with Hurricane Helene safety efforts. This was the first deployment of the Swift Water Rescue Team, certified in 2021 after several years of training, that resulted in real-life safety missions and rescues.
“We started making this team in late 2019 and early 2020 and were the first state law enforcement certified team in the state of North Carolina in 2021,” said Swift Water Rescue Team Captain Chris Lee. “This was the first time the team was put to real-life safety missions, and I could not be prouder of their efforts. This deployment has been a long time in the making. They remembered their training put it to great use and the team has done an excellent job.”
But they were just one of 71 different teams deployed in support of this storm, not including the members of N.C. Emergency Management, N.C. National Guard, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, rescue squads, dispatchers, and other volunteers.
“I am proud of my team’s efforts, but this was a much larger team event,” Lee said. “Without the help of all the previous mentioned agencies we wouldn’t have had our success.”
Below, Captain Lee and other Swift Water Rescue Team leaders recall their deployment.
Capt. Chris Lee - N.C. Marine Patrol Swift Water Rescue Team Captain
On Sept. 25, 2024, I received activation orders from N.C. Emergency Management to deploy the N.C. Marine Patrol Swift Water Rescue Team to Deep Gap for staging in support of Hurricane Helene safety efforts. The team was assigned to Watauga County for the storm and remained there until released.
“The water was rising at a rapid pace in several residential areas and officers were rescuing and evacuating people one after another.”
Chris Lee , N.C. Marine Patrol Swift Water Rescue Team Captain
At approximately 5 a.m. on Sept 26, as Tropical System Helene was rapidly approaching, the first call came in, and they didn’t stop coming in for the remainder of the day. Officers with the NC Marine Patrol Swift Water Rescue Team were sent in multiple directions within Watauga County, where they were assigned. Officers relied on their training and experience to make rescues from people and animals trapped in flooded cars, homes and those trapped in trees that had been swept away in the moving floodwaters. The water was rising at a rapid pace in several residential areas and officers were rescuing and evacuating people one after another. The team worked diligently all day long. That evening, the team was able to debrief on the day’s missions. I talked with the team and had a conference call with Marine Patrol Col. Carter Witten, and we expressed how proud we were with the efforts of the team.
Over the next several days the team ran more missions in Watauga County. As the waters receded, our missions changed from in the moment rescues to evacuations and welfare checks. Residents were able to use our officers’ state phones to contact family members to let them know they were OK.
The days after the storm were the most impactful to me, going back to rescue sites and seeing "normal" levels of water and realizing the sheer power of that moving force. The widespread destruction was unreal, but the community was still putting one foot in front of the other and coming together to rebuild just hours after the storm passed. It was great to see the community come together. It was also awesome to watch officers from coastal North Carolina, from state line to state line, come together and make great things happen. I am thankful for all of them.
Sgt. Edward Mann - NC Marine Patrol, District 1
In the early morning hours, before daylight, on Sept.27, 2024, the first boat crew was dispatched to assist the Deep Gap Fire Department with a motorist that was trapped in a vehicle in floodwaters. Shortly thereafter, the second crew was sent out to a residential and commercial area in Boone that was flooding. Then the third team, which I was on as boat operator, and included Officer Candace Rose, who served as our communications and information member, Officer Jack Gainey, who served the bowman in the rescue boat, and Officer Jacob Weaver, the rescuer in the boat, were initially sent out to Boone Fire Station 2 to assist or relieve one of the other rescue teams. We met with a Captain at the station who informed us that a residential area called Bradford Park was starting to flood. The Boone Fire Department Captain escorted us to Bradford Park, off Bamboo Road in Boone. It took the Fire Captain’s local knowledge to get us to the area that needed help because various roads had started to flood, and the water was continually rising.
Our boat team arrived at the Bradford Park area of Deep Gap at around 8:30 a.m. We could immediately identify that the low-lying area of houses in Bradford Park was starting to be inaccessible due to rising waters. Our team deployed a rescue boat and motor along the side of the road and quickly developed a plan to check the houses in immediate danger and move further into Bradford Park as we could. Officer Rose was able to identify a good point of higher ground for victim drop-off from the rescue boat, communicate with Captain Chris Lee of situation assessment and direct us in the boat to areas in the park that needed further attention. At this time, rain was still coming down heavily, water was moving rapidly through the middle of this residential area, and we could readily see the water rising.
I felt our team was operating in a very efficient and thorough manner. We quickly moved from the closest house, then further back, and further back. We were checking houses that water was entering for any occupants or immediate danger then moving from house-to-house and relaying people, and sometimes pets, to Officer Rose to coordinate their safety on higher ground. As a team we were able to see people in some of the worst environmentally threatening conditions and relocate them to an area that was safer. Another swift water rescue team from a neighboring fire department showed up and were working on the other side of Bradford Park from where we were, and I could see that they were doing as much as possible like we were. While our team was checking houses and people, I witnessed two large oak trees wash down the moving water where we were operating, not due to wind, but due to the volume and speed of water that was pushing them. During our team’s time in Bradford Park, we were able to move people from unsafe conditions to a safer area. These people consisted of the elderly, children, parents, people with physical ailments and many more. When we felt as a team that we had moved everyone that was in danger from that area we loaded our rescue boat back up and were planning to move to another fire department to assist with other calls.
The Captain from Boone Fire Department told us that we had to take a different route out because the road that we came in from was now inaccessible due to water and trees. He then told of us that a man was trapped on his vehicle on Bamboo Road. We again quickly moved to this area and launched the boat to retrieve this man from his truck and move him to a safer location.
I cannot point to an individual accomplishment, but I can say that the entire team accomplished more than my highest expectations. Looking back now, it is without a doubt that the team operated so well during trying conditions because of the professional standards that the N.C. Marine Patrol leadership holds its personnel to and the training standard that Captain Lee holds the Marine Patrol Water Rescue Team to.
Sgt. Jason Parker - N.C. Marine Patrol, District 3
I deployed to the area of Watauga County for Hurricane Helene with the N.C. Swift Water Rescue Team. Friday, during the storm, we worked around Appalachian State University and Meadowview Drive. We performed several water rescues and many evacuations. In the days following the storm, we were sent to areas around Watauga County to assist with search and rescue, welfare checks and evacuation missions. Our team was placed in a unique position to utilize our training and experiences to help the citizens of Watauga County in some of their toughest times. It is a blessing to be a community helper in this way beyond the law enforcement facet of our job.
“I have lived on the East Coast of North Carolina my entire life and have seen quite a few hurricanes. I have never seen water come with such speed and destruction as with this storm.”
Sgt. Jason Parker, N.C. Marine Patrol
One thing that impressed me is the way this community takes care of each other. As we were making our rounds after the storm, we found many people working on roads and driveways to help their neighbors. Everyone we met was happy to see us and thankful someone was out checking on folks. I have lived on the East Coast of North Carolina my entire life and have seen quite a few hurricanes. I have never seen water come with such speed and destruction as with this storm. It was encouraging to see such professional collaboration between multiple agencies, and I would like to give a special thanks to all the folks at Deep Gap Fire Department and Boone Fire Department Station 26.