North Carolina family escapes mudslide headed straight for their house

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North Carolina family escapes mudslide headed straight for their house

A family of four from Avery CO, NC narrowly escapes a torrential mudslide in their backyard. The Hicks family shared their harrowing experience on FOX Weather, from one of the areas hardest hit by Helene.

NEWLAND, N.C. – A three-year-old's birthday was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a massive mudslide barreling toward a North Carolina family of four, just one of the many heart-rending stories coming out of western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

"We heard this horrible roaring sound coming from up the mountain," said Alisha Hicks, of Newland, North Carolina. Alisha and her husband Matthan were sheltering in place on the morning of Friday, Sept. 27, amid the relentless rain brought by then-Tropical Storm Helene. 

The family of four had set up a few balloons to celebrate their daughter Madeline's third birthday amid a power outage. Alisha and Matthan were outside on the porch when mud and debris came pouring down into their backyard. They had just seconds to get their kids inside before the mudslide slammed into their house.

‘We could not get the door open … we had to literally throw the kids and our dog out the window’

"It took all our kids' toys, the whole front yard," Alisha told FOX Weather's Stephen Morgan and Kendall Smith. As the family was inside trying to decide their next move, a second, larger mudslide pushed their garage into their home and pinned their door shut.

"We could not get the door open. So we had to literally throw the kids and our dog out the window. We jumped off the porch and ran," recounted Alisha.

The family then waited out the rest of the rain for three hours under a cross on a hillside on their property. The family is now staying with nearby relatives.

Matthan told FOX Weather, "We've lived here for 8 years, I've never seen anything like this before, nothing of this magnitude. I never want to hear my girls scream like that again."

The couple has gone back to their home with volunteers to retrieve clothes and personal mementos and plan to do so again.

"We don't know if it will be weeks, months, years," said Alisha when asked if their house was a total loss.

Throughout the ordeal, the couple has leaned on their faith. "Praise God that he let us get out of there, that he spared us, that he protected us," said Matthan.

When asked about their two kids, Matthan said, "They're OK, but each day it gets better for them." 

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A week after the storm, rescues are still ongoing in western North Carolina. The Avery County emergency operation center confirms that at least three people have been killed in the county due to Helene.

To support the Hicks family, you can visit their GoFundMe page here.