ASHLAND, N.C. — As the scope of the Hurricane Helene disaster gives us a better understanding of what happened, we’re beginning to understand how critical survival decisions were for those caught in the storm. For brothers Kyle Vargas and Khori Vargas, it was life or death as they sat atop a mountain in Ashland, North Carolina.
"My main goal was to get to my wife and I just wanted to make sure she was safe," Kyle Vargas told WCNC Charlotte's Colin Mayfield. "We knew the system was coming but didn't expect the area to be as impacted as it was."
Kyle and Khori Vargas found themselves in the middle of torrential rain and wind in an Ashe County home.
"Looking out the window we could see trees falling and I said I hope they don't block the driveway because we won't be able to escape," Kyle Vargas said.
After surviving overnight Thursday and into Friday, the Vargas brothers contemplated their best strategy to try and make it out alive. Their best opportunity didn’t come until Saturday.
RELATED: Family of four recalls being rescued from their roof after Helene in western North Carolina
The brothers say they trekked for hours nearly 13 miles, without cell service all while Kyle’s wife attempted to leave Friday night from Atlanta to meet them somewhere in the middle on Saturday.
"We finally got to a church that had service and contacted my wife and sent her our location," Kyle Vargas said.
The family made their way to Tennessee somehow, first through Boone, and finally finding their footing back to Atlanta.
Vargas says if it wasn’t for the resilience of complete strangers, both in his rescue and his wife’s, they’re not sure they would’ve found one another. He says he knows he was being watched over while coming down that mountain not knowing what he would find.