Season 1, Episode 5: Help from Above

[00:00:00]today on hearts of Heroes flash flooding poses great risk in a small Midwestern town less than an hour it was completely submerged the whole neighborhood the victims and casualty numbers would have been a whole lot higher if not for the extraordinary courage and selflessness of these first responders then it's a race against time to save some stranded drivers we scream for help Northup and nobody can hurt her anything surrounded by rolling green hills covered in wild grasses Manhattan Kansas consistently ranks at the top of the list when it comes to best places to live in the United States it's no wonder that when a natural disaster struck their community it was deeply changed as heavy rain caused creeks and rivers to flood overnight many that were caught in the danger zone were not aware of how high those flood waters would rise when they woke up on what they thought would be a regular Monday morning Labor Day in the United States is generally memorable for barbecues and even parade but in 2018 the long holiday weekend in Manhattan Kansas would soon be remembered for a much different reason well before dawn meteorologists were tracking a line of storms moving into the area causing rivers and streams to start rising at alarming breaks I knew that there was a city to the west of us that was suffering some flooding and I knew that that water was coming our way firefighters mobilized and began evacuations as quickly as they could before those flash floods would soon take over we started going door-to-door about 6:30 in the morning was only started knocking on doors which there was no flooding at that time there was no no water in yards or Street or anything the more the general public can listen to and heed the warnings from our first responders the more damage control we can accomplish and then obviously the better off we'll all be over the next few hours rain pummeled the low-lying neighborhoods including Wildcat Creek where the Garden Grove senior living facility is situated I was in the shower and I heard somebody just knock knock knock seemed like they were knocking on every door in there so I was like let me see what's going on because I could tell that they were going like from door to door knocking Gloria Richardson was told to evacuate her ground-floor apartment as soon as possible stall by time I got out to the sidewalk the mortar was coming up the water came up just that fast I was just panicking the Creek had reached its banks and Manhattan was about to suffer its third flash flood in the past 11 years it was completely submerged the whole neighborhood and so people that weren't able to get out really weren't even able to walk out it came that fast I was really extremely shocked when I got to the building and I couldn't even get down the street to my building it was just cars were submerged you know people were stuck not being able to swim my best bit for me was to go back in go upstairs to my neighborhood Bonnie complicating the rescue efforts however was a new threat there was reports that morning of first responders were feeling some shocks when they were getting in the water and stuff household wiring is not made for the elements like our equipment is so when water mixes with household wiring and stuff like that then there is a possibility of being able to be electrocuted in that instance but shutting off the power to a large area who may not be as easy as it sounds to ensure the safety of those few those first responders down there we had to kill the circuit to thousands of people so they took their chances and dumped the power hoping for the best with the power off the firefighters could now get their boats in and get the residents out to safety without any major injuries city officials called this flash flood a 500-year event and thankfully the quick actions of the first responders made sure everybody was safe none of our residents got hurt so that was I thought amazing that people are able to move that quickly and get out of their apartments and get up to safety they were wonderful that day and just really stayed calm and helped our residents they come and that was all we could ask for the people of Manhattan Kansas will not forget the Labor Day flash flood of 2018 but they will always remember the bravery and compassion of their first responders they were concerned about us and I felt in my heart that they were angels that were sent to us up next with the floodwaters gone and everyone safe people start looking for help to put their lives back together seems like we can fix things I was like how could you ever fix something but first here's a tip on how you can be better prepared for a disaster flash flood warnings are issued when dangerous flood waters are either imminent or occurring if there's a possibility of flash flooding or other call to evacuate in your area it's best to be prepared to move to higher ground immediately have a plan in place before water levels rise and potentially cut off evacuation routes warnings are there to keep you safe and out of harm's way for the people of Manhattan Kansas the flash flood of Labor Day weekend 2018 was a life-changing event thanks in large part to the town's first responders there were no fatalities but as the rain slowed down and the flood waters began to recede the extent of the damage became heartbreakingly clear especially at the Garden Grove senior facility it was a mess during the highest point in the water there was water up you know to the windows and submerging cars residents items things from the community room are just floating all around because the floods came on so fast and so strong people had very little time to save anything roll Laden is probably worst day of their life like a lot of them lost everything there is things in there just gonna hurt me like pictures of my daughter because I had him in you know like suitcases and stuff like that and that Ward he came and he got up in the suitcases but fortunately for those that were living at Garden Grove another team of specialists was ready to deploy all we want is for the residents of Garden Grove is to get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible as soon as the water receded the belfort team went to work removing debris ripping out waterlogged carpets and tearing out damaged drywall luckily we had a team already in place in the Manhattan area so we were actually here within less than an hour that fast response is extremely important because floodwaters are labeled category three or black water because they are grossly unsanitary the water can contain sewage oil from roads and biohazardous materials anything that comes in contact with flood water should be disinfected and disposed of they were not only devastated by the loss of their home but for their irreplaceable mementos like Gloria Richardson's precious family photos her car still had about four or five inches of water in the trunk then I can feel the picture frames as I was pulling them out of the car I told her I have your pictures we're gonna save them the first step in restoration is a surprising one the damaged items are immediately put in the freezer for a process called freeze-dried whenever it's gotten wet if you let it dry on its own without a controlled environment they'll tend to wrinkle or crackle but if you freeze it right away it stops any additional damage the technicians start the restoration process carefully separating and cleaning each photo with sponges because they know how valuable these memories are in Gloria's case these memories are important to her especially since she has a daughter that's passed away a few weeks later after a lot of painstaking work Sheldon Yellen was delighted to make a special delivery to Gloria in person I just want you to know that I heard of your spirit and the perseverance that you have to bounce back and to know that tomorrow is gonna be better it's just been such a blessing the way that I was treated through this era rallied the troops to perform some heroic acts I'd love to ask you - just take your time and opening this box I can't thank you all enough for all this you turn this is what we do preserving memories give you a hug we're so grateful that you've allowed us the honor of serving you with the damage from the Labor Day flash flood being repaired both in the home and in the heart the people of Manhattan Kansas have a lot to be thankful for coming up help can't come quickly enough but these stranded drivers will scream for help you know stuff and nobody can hurt welcome back summer afternoons spent driving country roads always a great way to relax especially if it's in the rural hills of North Carolina pastoral quiet peaceful however when floodwaters rise those same roads can turn deadly if you live in the Carolinas all the natural beauty around you does come with a bit of a trade-off you're also in hurricane country I've lived here all my life and we usually experience a hurricane event normally about once every three years so this is probably my tenth or twelfth hurricane event but this is one of the most severe that we've ever experienced it was September 2018 when hurricane Florence came blowing out of the Atlantic Ocean at times it reached category 4 status with winds of more than 140 miles per hour but once Florence reached land it slowed down and believe it or not that is what made this particular storm so devastating this storm really slowed down to a crawl 2 3 4 miles an hour and that's what we really heard is they just said right here and just pounded on us some areas got up to 36 inches of rain that week like along the Neuse River just 40 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean we of course had strong powerful you know tropical storm force winds in our area now we have heavy rains that inundated our rivers it took six whole days for Florence to slog across North Carolina claiming 41 lives and leaving an estimated 17 billion dollars worth of damage it was an epic event but thankfully thousands of trained personnel or on the job prior to the storm we had been activated alerted to let us know to be ready so we prepared our crews the day prior to the storm we deployed two Airport where we would perform missions out of there the victims and casualty numbers would have been a whole lot higher if not for the extraordinary courage and selflessness of these first responders they put themselves in harm's way to save their fellow citizens and they do it with skill and dedication while Florence was creating chaos across the state crews worked tirelessly around the clock to make hundreds of rescues and evacuation but once the hurricane finally passed that didn't mean the danger was gone in this case that trouble soon came knocking thanks to storm surge flooding the rivers so a storm surge is wind driven water that backs up into the rivers and so instead of the rivers flowing to the sea as they normally flow actually the ocean flows up into the rivers the small and Neuse River was still creating major problems and one group of men misjudged the threat level of the conditions around them when people drive into water and they realize that it's too deep for them to go any further their car engine will cut off and so then they're stranded in that water which is exactly what happened to a Virginia man named everardo Martinez and his three friends lost and turned around by confusing GPS directions they wound out driving right into the disaster just took us like right away and I live in like five seconds we end up like the water was all over my neck in a heartbeat the men were taken on the ride of their lives the deceptively powerful and deep currents swept their 3,000 pound car like a toy up against a nearby row of trees water gushed in and they scrambled to the roof ever our dough was the only one who could swim and since the area seemed to be deserted he made the decision to brave those rushing waters and go for help so I start swimming you know swimming and swimming and someone and I went down like two times you know I almost died what not I mean the second time being in the moving water in through those trees would have been extremely dangerous supposed that's when we're running things would call strainers water runs through but a person won't and you can actually pin a person or drown them but a Berardo found enough strength inspired by a vision of his daughter he pushed himself up and out of that raging current and staggered out to a nearby road all I really I saw this guy pulling over in a big truck eNOS you know I scream I say hey look we need some help can you call now on lon coming up with a berardo out of harm's way and first responders safely get his friends from the roof of the car but first another disaster safety tip when driving flood water is extremely dangerous because there's no way to judge how deep but rapid the water is until it's too late when your vision is limited like when you're driving at night or during a heavy rain the dangers are more significant so be safe and take precautions remember it only takes a mere foot of moving water to carry a small vehicle away nearly a week after Hurricane Florence ravaged North Carolina it's lethal after-effects were trying to claim even more victims flood survivor a Berardo Martinez had swam to safety but his three friends were still trapped on top of their submerged car first responders rushed to the scene we could see the victims as we approached and their vehicle had been swept completely off the road and their vehicle was completely submerged they were actually standing on the roof of their vehicle due to the swiftness of the currents and there in the river there we opted to get them life preservers get them secured safely we didn't feel comfortable with pulling them to the vehicle so we had a helicopter already in around one of the most impressive things about emergency responses in America is how quickly and effectively all these various agencies communicate with each other to do the best job possible we prepare for natural disasters through training here at our facility we train one week out of the month after getting the call the elite team quickly loaded into their Black Hawk helicopter and raced to the scene with lives in the balance they prepared for the unexpected every situations dynamic so for the most part we knew we're trained for this scenario but you never do you never can tell we don't know if there's power lines above this car that's going to prevent us from from doing this you could just faintly tell that they were standing on top of the vehicle because all you could see was a red square that they were on top of but that was the best course of action and the team quickly determined the right equipment for the job Chris Hendricks and another rescue tech were lowered down by sergeant row on to that crowded roof where another safety concern was looming we don't know if the car is stable that has to when we come in and we produce all this wind we're going to start moving the car and not send the car and the survivors and potentially us or moving down the river in moving water fortunately the car was wedged tightly against those trees and the first rescue went according to plan we pick up the the first guy as he's coming up we back we like to back off scene so that our rotor wash from aircraft doesn't doesn't cause any interference with the other guys on the ground if we stay overhead you know we're potentially putting hurricane-force winds down on people and we could potentially blow them off of the the car roof or whatever they're holding on to the time from dry land as everardo watched his friends being lifted to safety he too felt of giant weight being lifted I just felt this relief you know from because it was so stressful you know seeing them over there for the helicopter aerial rescue team all that hard work and training was paying off with a perfect mission I come back down got the second one brought him up and then we still left one more rescuer on the car we sent the hook down to him he already had the third survivor packaged up brought him up and it went flawless the rescued men were cold and shaken up but realized they owed their lives to the valiant first responders that told him I said thank you so much for what you guys did to us you know with us took us out of there you know safe you know and all that which is good in the end like all first responders they put themselves at risk to make you safer it's always on nice to know that you played a small role as part of a big team and helping people in a crisis these are always people who put themselves on the line for others for people they've never met and risk their lives I get paid to save lives I get paid to fly on a helicopter and swing from a hook is cool job but then again it is a profession what I do it for free probably listen it's never the wrong time to ask for help when caught in a natural disaster and as we've seen here the survivors of these wild floods were extremely lucky to be saved first responders might chalk it up to just doing their job but for the rest of us the work they do is more than that it's life-saving and we are so thankful for their service and thank you for watching you