GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Images and videos of the damage Hurricane Helene left in its wake are difficult to view. Entire towns have been swept away, or are buried under debris.
Asheville, North Carolina is one area hit particularly hard. For one Minnesotan, those images will stay etched in her mind – she was there when it happened.
Bailey Opdahl was in Asheville for a bachelorette party for her soon-to-be sister-in-law Samantha Roberts. When Helene moved through this past Friday morning, Opdahl immediately noticed that this storm was stronger than others.
"I went upstairs along with one of the other girls, and we looked outside and like, we saw the trees standing straight up and all of a sudden they were just sideways," Opdahl said.
The damage was clear to see. Their exit by road was blocked by downed trees and powerlines, brought down by the powerful winds and rain that morning.
"We're all from out of state, so we didn't know the area," Opdahl said. "We were on a mountain and we didn't know, I mean, you just feel alone."
Eventually, the group managed to hike to a nearby neighbor's home, able to finally get enough signal to tell their family and loved ones that the eight of them were alright. Neighbors also helped them with food and power to charge their phones.
While deciding on how they were going to get home, they realized the only way out was down.
"We did end up making it down after multiple hours of under and over trees and power lines," Samantha Roberts, the bride-to-be, said.
The group hiked through the brush, north of Asheville until they reached a fire station. There, a parent picked the group up, flying in to help.
Opdahl returns home to Minnesota Wednesday, happy and grateful to be safe, emphasizing that Asheville and the surrounding area is not out of the woods yet – and likely won't be for a while.
"We just need to make sure that everybody knows that these people exist and that they are up there," Roberts said. "That they are also waiting for help and assistance."
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