Transcript of North Carolina woman says family member is stuck in mountain town, needs supplies after Helene

Joining us now is Elise Adams. She has a loved one trapped in Spruce Pine, one of those mountain towns in North Carolina where communication has been cut off and it's impossible for rescuers to reach. Elise, first off, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. I know this is a very, very difficult time. Talk to us about who is missing exactly in your family, and when was the last time you were able to talk to them?

So my children's Mimi is up in Spruce Pine. She was able to relocate up to little Switzerland, up to a little bit higher land, but she is stuck up there. It's her and a few of her friends. They are elderly. They are also senior veterans. They need supplies. They were barely able to get some gas up there, and the only way out is to be airlifted. This is happening all over these counties.

When was the last time you heard from her?

Yesterday. She has to walk up a mountain. My mom talked to her, and she has to do that just to get service to reach out to anyone. Her entire... Her home is gone. Her cars are gone. Her cats are gone. This has been absolutely devastating. They have nothing.

Was she one of those cases that it was too hard for her to evacuate, or she had no understanding that she had to evacuate?

I don't think that these people thought that it was going to be this extreme. Everyone kept hearing about Florida, which I understand. My mom was stranded on Longboat Key, south of Tampa at the same exact time. But no one is focusing attention on these Western North Carolina cities other than Ashe. I understand that that is a big name, But people need to understand about Black Mountain, about Spruce Pine, about Marion. These are towns with 2,000, 3,000, 10,000 people, and there are so many missing people.

Do you think the government is doing enough?

Honestly, I don't know how you did not have a formal press conference or something from either President Biden or Kamala Harris. I mean, how do you not say anything for four days? They've been strained it for four days, and this is the first we've heard from them at all. Fema is not on the ground there at They are not in these cities, not in these towns, and not in these villages.

Does your relative have food? Does she have water? Does she have the medication she needs?

They have a minimal amount of water. They have a minimal amount of food. They were able to get slightly down the mountain to get a little bit of gas, but they haven't been able to cut their way out yet.

When you say cut their way out, what do you mean?

There's trees down. You have to have chainsaws up there to get the trees out of the roads. And that is if the mudslides didn't take the roads out completely. I cannot even tell you how many families, even here outside of Charlotte, that are looking for their loved ones up in that area. No one knows anything.

Elyce, have you contacted any authorities? Have you tried to get rescue teams out there? And have you been able to make any progress on that?

Yes. The local police department, the Hill Police Department, as well as the Sheriff-elect, Tommy Breeden. Both of them are doing daily runs, multiple runs a day to supplies that go directly up to Black Mountain. So if they have multiple drop-off locations, I sent them to you as well. There's also a nonprofit called Hungary Heroes. They're located down here in Rock Hill. During the year, normally, they provide food to first responders. They were up in New York during the 9/11, recently, earlier in the month. They are now on the ground in Black Mountain, feeding all of the first responders and the heroes that are going up in helicopters to see if these people are.

Elyce, one more time before you leave. Where exactly is your family right now? Just in case people are listening to this, they can send teams there.

Spruce Pine is the community. I don't have the exact location. They They are up the mountain in Little Switzerland. Okay, Little Switzerland. There is a list going around of locations and people, especially elderly, people that need medications in their locations where they have to be rescued from.

Elyce, we thank you so much. I'm sorry this is happening to your family, and I really hope and pray that some rescuers can get to them and they can get them off the mountain to some safety.

I do as well. Thank you for bringing attention to this area.

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