A Dallas couple found themselves in a terrifying situation while taking a vacation in the picturesque mountains of North Carolina.
Keren and Dane Kosi were staying in an Airbnb near Hendersonville when Hurricane Helene swept through the region, causing chaos and destruction.
Helene made landfall on Thursday evening in Florida as a Category 4 storm, and by Friday the hurricane was already affecting western North Carolina, with Mount Mitchell recording a 106 mph wind gust at 8:27 a.m. Duke Energy reported over 700,000 power outages in North Carolina on Friday morning, with the Kosis left stuck at their vacation rental.
“We were terrified,” Keren Kosi told Newsweek. “We realized that if anything happened to us, even if emergency services wanted to get through, they couldn’t. We had a bag of rice cakes, eggs, and a single chicken sausage left, which we couldn’t even cook, and no idea how long that would last. We had already run out of water after being without power for 42 hours before the hurricane hit.”
Pictures from the viral video the couple shared of the damage left in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
@keren.gl/TikTok
The couple’s fear escalated as they grappled with their dwindling supplies, cut off from the outside world. But hope came in the form of a neighbor, whom they have dubbed a “hero.”
The neighbor bravely loaded his 4×4 with his wife and dogs, prepared for the uncertain journey ahead. “He packed up his 4×4 and led us through a hidden, windy back road that we would have never known about without him,” Kosi said.
What followed was a precarious drive along a path transformed into an obstacle course of downed trees, sinkholes, and landslides. “The road wasn’t even a road at this point,” Keren explained. “We were lucky to have our truck because it was full of trees, and huge oak trees looked like they could fall on us at any moment. Once we miraculously made it out, we realized just how bad the situation really was.”
As they navigated through the wreckage, the couple witnessed the devastation left in Helene’s wake: houses split in two by massive oak trees, power lines submerged in water, and grocery stores transformed into lakes. “Every few minutes, we would see rescue teams with floaters, and we just knew it was bad,” Kosi said.
The couple shared their terrifying experience on TikTok, where their video has been viewed over 2 million times. Beyond sharing their ordeal, they hope that the video will raise awareness about the severity of the situation in North Carolina.
“We were just vacationing here, but the people we met lost everything,” Kosi said “The locals were some of the nicest people, and they have formed such a tight-knit community. We consider ourselves very lucky. We hope that people understand how bad this situation really is and consider donating and praying for these communities.”
Newsweek has reached out to Airbnb via email for comment.
