BANNER ELK, N.C. — Melinda Williams was working as a paramedic with emergency medical services in Banner Elk, North Carolina on Friday, Sept. 27, Helene was tearing through the Carolinas.
"We were going to check the river," she said, sharing her story with WCNC Charlotte as she choked back tears and recalled how hard it was raining in the dark of the night, when she went to go see how her house was doing.
"At 3 a.m., there was no power, so I woke up my partner and told him I was going to check on the river and the house," she said, "and depending on where the water is, I may not be back."
Williams got to her house and scooped up her dogs. But within minutes, she couldn't get out.
"The water was too high for me to leave," she said.
As time ticked on, Williams said it only got worse.
"By the time 11 a.m. came, the water went at my foundation," she said. "In less than 15 minutes, my entire home was full of water."
That was when her home was swept away by the river, with her inside. She didn't have much to hold onto by that point.
"I was hanging onto that door jamb, my furniture was swirling and hitting me, and I was just saying 'you can't let go,'" she said.
Williams was able to get out of the house, only to face the water head-on.
"I was able to grab ahold of a tree, and then the roots gave away," she said, "and it washed me further down the river."
Willams was, by this point, being pelted with wood and debris. But she found one last chance to hang on: a tree that had just fallen.
She had only one thought at the time: "You got to keep hanging on."
Williams said hypothermia was taking over. Her body was no longer shivering. But she took a leap of faith, and hit solid ground for the first time since her home had been swept away.
But she had to keep going.
"I wanted to stop," she said. "I knew if I stopped I was going to die in the woods."
So she walked up the mountain, and saw her brother's home in the distance. She got in, much to the relief of her family.
"They all thought I was dead because they saw my house wash away," Williams said.
She wasn't in the clear just yet -- her hand was badly cut up, and she knew infection was setting in. 24 hours later, a water rescue crew saved her, taking her to a hospital in Concord for surgery.
After it all, Williams said her ability to push through and survive surprised her.
"One minute I think I'm okay, one minute I don't know," she recalled. "I think about that and I'm a pretty strong person, and I don't think I'm that strong.
Williams does have permanent nerve damage in her hand after her ordeal, and she's living with her family off of the mountain in the meantime.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.