Hurricane Helene- Midland Radio Kept Volunteer Rescuers Connected

Hurricane Helene made landfall September 26, 2024, ravaging several states along the East Coast, bringing devastating flooding to the southern Appalachian Mountains. 

About Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 storm known for its rapid intensification that produced a wide stretch of damage, extending from northwestern Florida where it made landfall, all the way through Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. 

Helene's high winds and flooding killed more than 250 people, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017.

Experts estimate that Helene's economic impact (property and infrastructure damage) hit totals as high as $200 billion. This ranks it among the costliest storms in U.S. history.

The storm was originally forecast to bring scattered thunderstorms and rain, but within two days quickly spun up into the category 4 storm, attributed to abnormally warm waters in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. 

Coming Together to Help

With roads washed out and a lack of electricity, there was a significant need for aid in the mountainous areas of both North Carolina and South Carolina. 

Several groups came together to respond to the disaster, including Sean Clark's Venture Unknown, Jason Seidel's Project Your Home, and Operation Helo.

Operation Helo, a nonprofit of pilots and volunteers delivered supplies by air. Venture Unknown would be on the ground mission after setting up camp at Pisgah Brewery.

"It was a win because if nothing else was fruitful about this partnership, we at least know we can together and save lives. When we would make a call early on, it would be like Helo Opps and Venture Unknown stood shoulder to shoulder. We would determine if it needed to go by ground or by air. People were getting vital, life-saving medications like insulin, epi pens, oxygen- all the medical stuff that was necessary," Seidel said.

For Clark, getting Venture Unknown involved in the relief efforts was personal, but he was still blown away by the sheer magnitude of the group's members that wanted to lend a hand. 

"Venture Unknown is an overlanding group of 7,000 people. 2 calls came in from 2 of our members that were unaccounted for. All of us had a choice- either do something about someone that is trapped or blocked, or not do something. Over the course of the next several days, we had hundreds of members showing up to help. The response showed that there are still good people in the world who will still do things for others selflessly," Clark said. 

Operations Underway

Once set up at the Camping World Headquarters and Pisgah Brewery, the organizations began working together to respond- conducting wellness checks, delivering supplies like life-saving medication, and bringing human contact to those who had been without interaction for days or weeks.

Venture Unknown would run 800 missions in the first 3 weeks, working for 26-28 days straight. Clark knows these life-saving missions wouldn't have happened without Seidel's groups and their supplies.

"There was an officer that came into camp. I remember he needed 2 things- soy formula for a few of the infants he had and he needed oxygen. Within an hour or 2, there was a helicopter dropping off those in the field. That's just short of a miracle to me. I think it's because when you act with compassion and you're not making it about yourself, then magical things can happen," he said. 

Seidel was floored by the determination of the overlanding rigs with Venture Unknown and how members wouldn't let challenging conditions stop them from reaching people who needed help.

"We got a call from a mother in Black Mountain that there was no way anybody could get to her and she needed insulin for her son so he wouldn't die. Our Venture Unknown folks come rolling in overlanding rigs, drove in, grabbed what they needed, and drove as far as they could, and then walked insulin to this boy," Seidel recounted. 

Communication Keeps Life-Saving Crews Connected

At the forefront of these missions was communication and the teams relied on GMRS two-way radios to get the job done.

"Even on a good day, cell phones are not working in the mountains very well. During and after Helene, they were not working at all or it was very, very spotty. It was actually life or death," Clark said. 

Seidel said in no uncertain terms, reliable communication saved lives. 

"Saying that communication was key is putting it lightly. It was the lifeblood. Communication reduced chaos and took a lot of the anxiety out of the way. The gravity of what we did is so much bigger than just radios, it was communication that was key to saving a life."

Clark said as soon as Venture Unknown members began arriving at the basecamp, they were given a radio. 

"When we would run these missions, we were on the buddy system so there were always 2 trucks. Those 2 trucks were communicating via GMRS radio."

The GMRS two-way radios also kept morale up as these volunteers were witnessing sheer devastation at a level many of them had never experienced before.

"You imagine going into some of these places and you go and see, witness some of these stories in the mountains and as a 2-truck team, just having someone else's voice on the other end of the radio is something could at least ground you a little. It was quite emotional."

Many of the crews were using Midland's GMRS two-way radios, be it a MicroMobile or a handheld walkie talkie.

"We had these helicopters and we weren't sure how we were going to communicate between the off-roads and the helicopters. We had a gentleman who was on the group and able to bring in this helicopter in a very small area. You've got things flying everywhere, but we were able to do that with the help of a Midland radio," Clark remembered. 

Seidel couldn't believe the level of reliability in terms of GMRS communication and how much of an impact it played in the disaster relief. 

"With those people, with the Midland radios, we saved lives. That was something that I'll never forget."