MADISON COUNTY, North Carolina – Experienced whitewater rafters in North Carolina He spent more than two weeks on the French Broad River after the hurricane. Helen‘s floodrescuing their neighbors in extreme conditions.

Brothers Jim, Mike and Mitch Hampton, along with Mitch’s wife, Korey, are part of the Walnut Volunteer Fire Department’s swift water rescue team in western North Carolina. The Hamptons have Wide French adventures Madison County rafting tour company and the entire family have over 145 years of white water rafting experience. That experience was crucial when the river where they normally took groups for a fun time became angry overnight.

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Jim Hampton told FOX Weather that calls for water rescues began coming in on the morning of September 27, the day after Helene’s arrival in Floridaand it kept coming.

A Helene flood rescue performed by the Walnut Fire Department volunteer swift water rescue team and French Broad Adventures. (Mitch and Korey Hampton)

Hampton said the hardest part was finding time to rest between rescues.

“The adrenaline is wild and the cortisol and, you know, you’re just overloaded and you can’t sleep,” he said. “You almost have to pass out from exhaustion and then you do it again the next day.”

A 24-foot ladder and a successful water rescue

For 15 days after the Helene flood, the team was on the French Broad River with dogs and military companions scouring the banks for survivors. One of those calls was for a harrowing rescue at Iron Horse Station, an iconic inn in hot springs.

“There were five people on the top floor. The water was rising and there was concern that the hotel would be compromised by flooding,” Hampton said. “There was a lot of debris falling, you know, coming from that river into that area.”

Hampton said the rescue team was able to access the building and get everyone out using a 24-foot ladder anchored to a conduit.

“It actually went pretty well, considering once we committed to our plan,” Hampton said. “So, we were on another call.”

However, there are moments on the French Broad River that Hampton says will continue to haunt him.

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The swift water rescue team attempted to reach a man who was clinging to a tree in the river. In the end, the rescue was too risky and the man was dragged away.

Jim Hampton, a member of the Walnut Fire Department’s volunteer swift water rescue team along the French Broad River. (Mitch and Korey Hampton)

“There was debris everywhere, and if our 13-foot boat had hit the tree trunk, we would have capsized and been done,” Hampton said.

More than a month after Helene, the Walnut Fire Department continues to receive calls for swift water resources, but that is for when a body is recovered. The death toll in North Carolina exceeded 100 people this week as recovery efforts continue across the area with an estimated $53 billion in damages caused by Helene.

Hampton said the Western North Carolina community is what made the herculean rescue effort possible.

“If it wasn’t for the community around us with the cars and for all the community members with food and support, who knows if we would have been able to keep up,” he said. “All of this has really created a sense of community and pride.”

Read more of this story from FOX Weather.