2 Vehicles Pull Semi-Truck Out of Ditch While Hurricane Florence Detroys the Coast

Rocky Point, NC
September 14th, 2018
Hurricane Florence (category 4) hit the east coast and left many with no homes, no jobs to come back to, endless fallen trees and record breaking flooding. The driver of an 18 wheeler was headed to a shelter carrying emergency supplies such as cots, bedding, water and other necessary items around 3AM when he found himself at a dead-end residential road. GPS took him the wrong route and as the truck driver realized this street was a dead-end, he tried to back into a driveway (my dad's neighbor) and attempted to turn around. The winds were crazy, the ground was flooding, trees and branches were falling left and right as this was the worst part of the Hurricane. The truck driver found himself stuck with a ditch both in front of him and behind him. He called local police for assistance as he was in danger and those supplies needed to be delivered. The Pender County sheriff's office came out but didn't do anything to help or even see if the truck driver was okay before they turned around and left. He was forced to wait out the hurricane wedged in between these tall trees, tornado threats and other dangerous weather conditions.

In the eye of the hurricane about 10AM, my dad walked out to the end of his driveway to see what kind of damage there was and noticed the jack-knifed 18 wheeler stuck in the ditch on this small road. With all the damage done in the area and with the neighborhood entrance completely flooded, there was no way to get a tow truck or any other kind of assistance. My dad knew he had to figure out a way to help this man get back on the road to deliver the emergency supplies. My dad, Mike Milan, pulled up with his personal truck and work van, attached 2 strong straps to the bumper of the 18 wheeler. With the help of the neighbor, my dad and his wife were able to pull the semi out of the ditch after a few good attempts. As I stood by to watch, I didn't think this was possible but something told me to get this on video. The very moment the semi started to move, there was a huge sense of relief for all of us. This was a very dangerous situation for all of us as winds were still high, still had several tornado warnings and the back end of hurricane Florence was about to hit us in the matter of minutes. This is an unforgettable moment for us all. I'm beyond proud of them and thankful the truck driver didn't get hurt while he waited out the 1st part of the hurricane. This was probably a long 9 hours for the truck driver.