Two families in the Duck Dynasty universe have shared their harrowing first-hand experiences with the destruction of Hurricane Helene.
Al and Lisa Robertson recalled getting trapped in the Black Mountain area of North Carolina, near the walloped Asheville, N.C. on Monday’s episode of the Unashamed podcast hosted by family patriarch Phil Robertson.
Al and his wife “got caught flat-footed” by the storm, he said, which saw two days of nonstop downpours with more than 20 inches of rainfall. “It hit us at about 5:30 in the morning and I admit, we’ve rode out a couple [of] storms here and down in the Gulf shores, but this one had some bite to it,” he recalled.
Trees began falling one by one in his area, making him unable to sleep: “Not close by, but these things are 200 feet tall. When they hit the ground, you hear it for a long way.”
“First you’re just praying, ‘Spare us,’ then you’re thinking about the people down lower…I was worried about a mudslide. It was a scary night,” he continued.
The next day, they checked on their nearby cousins and granddaughter, who were all okay. However, “there was no cell phone, no internet and then of course no power, no water.” The couple tried driving out of their home, but road blockages from a mudslide and fallen trees made them turn around. Eventually, they realized they couldn’t get anywhere and there was no way out.
“At this moment, I realize we’re trapped. We cannot leave this area,” he said. “We’ve got no phones, no electricity. At this point we don’t even have a place to stay, but we do have family.
“And there’s a helplessness that comes over you in that moment.”
The Dasher family was also hit by the storms. Zach Dasher, Phil Robertson’s maternal nephew, joined the podcast by phone. Zach and his wife Jill live in the Asheville area and remain impacted by the storms.
Branding the area a “war zone” with no access to food, water, gasoline, or supplies, Zach said Swannanoa, the town where his family lives, has been “swept away” by the storms. “I’m talking about the land that the buildings were on is gone. Not just the land, but the buildings,” he said on the podcast.
Zach and his wife earlier updated fans in a tear-jerking Instagram post, saying that the community had come together in this tumultuous time.
“I have seen people come together and love on one another in such a beautiful way,” Jill said. “And so just keep praying. We’re so thankful for every single one of you.” In that post, they also linked to places to donate including the Swannanoah Church and the Black Mountain Children’s Home.
Duck Dynasty became a phenomenon when the reality series premiered in 2012. The Robertson family was catapulted to stardom as millions of viewers followed the famous duck hunters and their personal lives in the south. The A&E series ran for 11 seasons until 2017.
All 11 seasons of Duck Dynasty are available to watch now on AETV.com.