LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Kentucky family is hugging their son a little tighter tonight after he got home from Asheville, North Carolina, following the deadly flooding that pushed through the mountain city.
Once the Sajadi family's son, Will Sajadi, was back in their arms, safe, it was like a breath of relief.
Will attends Asheville School as a junior. He explains how storms began Wednesday night, picking up speed on Thursday. "When you started to see the trees kind of swaying. Then branches started flying off and then as I saw yesterday. A solar panel flew off the roof of one of the buildings."
As winds picked up speed and flash floods set in, Will lost all contact with his parents as cell towers and power lines were downed. This was all from the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which forced floodwaters into the mountain city.
Will says there was no power, little food, two 16-oz water bottles, and no cell service for three days. Will says the toilets stopped working, and nobody could shower. The only way to make a toilet flush was to dump a bucket of water down it.
The only building on campus with a generator is the student service center. The student center offered food and activities for the students as well as the only building with cell service to contact loved ones. Will explains how the school was not flooded as badly as other areas because it sits on a hilltop. However, nobody had a way in or out of the city, and access to food and clean water was hard to find.
A majority of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee remain flood-striken. Trapping dozens of people within its cities and providing supplies by helicopter. As of Sunday, nearly 30 people have been killed in Asheville from the storm.
"It bothered me that I couldn't tell them what was going on and that I was okay, but I knew that I was gonna be okay," said Will.
"Saturday morning when we woke up and we hadn't heard from him since two and we saw I-40 had collapsed," recalls Kristin. "I was very nervous. I was ready to just start walking. I was like I don't care if our car won't get there, I want to get there."
By a miracle, a random woman reached out to Kristin to let her know she will attempt to drive to Asheville to pickup her kid and would bring Will home too.
Cell service didn't return for Will until he was two hours outside of Asheville when he could text his mom, "I'm okay."
"Sense of relief. Just confirmation we knew he was safe. I don't want to cry but it was a lot of relief. And stress for the people who aren't able to get to safety like we were fortunate," explains Kaveh, Will's dad, and Kristin.
Both parents thank the school for keeping their son safe and going above and beyond.
Another Kentucky mom, Allison Tucker, whose daughter is still at the Mars Hill University, also thanks her daughter's school for keeping her safe. She says her daughter was able to hunker down with food and water before the storm wiped out everything. Now, one of the biggest issues is a low amount of fuel in the area.
"Having that no communication over that time period. Not knowing, I know she was fine, but not knowing where are you, stay put just trying to get that message to them of stay put do not leave," explains Tucker.
It's unclear when the roads and areas will be safe again, but agencies ask that people stay off roads so they can clear them faster.
Asheville School is set to resume classes Sunday, Oct. 6.
