NASCAR legend Greg Biffle captured the incredible moment he located a hurricane survivor stranded in the depths of North Carolina mountains.
Since Hurricane Helene tore through most of the southeastern U.S. over the weekend, the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series Champion has made it his mission to save other North Carolinians affected by the treacherous storm.
The race car driver posted video on Wednesday of a man waving a mirror in the air as Biffle, 54, flew above Banner Elk.
Although he quickly noticed the man in the forested mountains, Biffle said it was initially challenging to land the chopper as the debris from the hurricane got in the way.
After six attempts, the NASCAR star landed the helicopter and dropped supplies he had inside to help the man.
‘The mirror that caught our attention – only way we were able to find someone stranded in the mountains at bottom of steep canyon.
‘6 attempts to land due to difficulty but we got there – got him a chainsaw, EpiPens, insulin, chicken food, formula, gas, 2 stroke oil, and sandwiches pre-made from Harris Teeter before we left,’ Biffle said in a Facebook post.
The remarkable moment began with Biffle inside the helicopter as he quickly noticed something out of the ordinary, pointing toward the man.
The reflection of the mirror glistened in the sky as he got closer to the stranded man, while another person behind him waved their arms back and forth.
He also shared a location pin on his social media accounts and said: ‘If your family is near this pin, they got my attention with a mirror flashing against the sun they are okay and we’ve dropped off supplies.’
In a similar video of him landing to help those in need, Biffle said: ‘Trees. Canyons. Power lines. Glad this little beast of a helicopter can make it to the areas unreachable by larger aircraft.’
Biffle told Nascar.com he wasn’t quite sure what to do after the state was ravaged by Helene, but he knew he wanted to help out in any way he could.
‘The scale of the situation, to be honest with you, I don’t even know how to put it into words.
‘The problem is those mountain communities, all of the roads are completely washed off the side of the mountains.
‘The road does not exist anymore, in or out, and it’s not one area. It’s not Asheville, it’s not Banner Elk. It’s all the way from the state line to the state line, so it is a huge undertaking. The scale of this is incredible,’ he added.
He told the outlet that he was prompted to take action after receiving a Facebook message from a family that was stranded in an Airbnb in the mountains with young children.
‘And as you know people who rent Airbnb’s don’t have days or weeks worth of food or canned food available, so it started to become apparent right away that they weren’t the only ones,’ he explained.
Since the storm, Biffle and a group of volunteers have dedicated themselves to dropping off materials and supplies to those in need.
They have set up operations to help in Statesville, Hickory, Morganton and Rutherford County.
The NASCAR foundation has also chipped in and donated $150,000 with an online page for the community to chip in and help.
All donations are set to go toward the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
On Thursday, Biffle was up in the sky again looking for more people affected by the Category 4 hurricane.
‘Flying with some supply drops today and flew through this area of Asheville with unconfirmed propane or fuel leak everyone stay safe.
‘I’m gonna keep going until we feel like everybody’s got what they need,’ Biffle said.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in darkness on Thursday evening, leaving millions of Americans to wake up Friday morning to widespread destruction.
As of Thursday, at least 204 people are confirmed dead from the storm, with more than half of them being in North Carolina alone, NBC News reported.
Hundreds are still missing across multiple states as locals in North Carolina and Tennessee have gone to build their own online spreadsheet to help track those who have been found.
A Tennessee father, Steve Cloyd, 60, has not been seen or heard from since Friday afternoon after a flash flood swept through the Jonesborough home he shares with his wife.
Steve stayed in contact with his wife Keli Cloys, 55, while she was at work, with the last text to her saying he and his two-year-old Goldendoodle were ‘starting to float away’ after they hopped into his Jeep while water inundated the couple’s home.