CHAPIN, SC (WOLO) — What was meant to be a relaxing weekend turned into a helicopter rescue mission for one family here in the Midlands. Jeff and Wanda Hein, along with their son Kincade and his girlfriend Rebekah Bickley, say they traveled to their friend Tony’s mountain home near Hendersonville, NC last Thursday. “We had some fishing rods with us, and food to grill, and we were gonna hang out for a couple of days and enjoy the mountains,” says Jeff. But just as their trip was getting started, Hurricane Helene made other plans. “Winds were just howling, it sounded like a whistle blowing through the house,” says Kincade. Knocking their power out around nine p.m., and knocking over trees by early the next morning, Hurricane Helene turned the nearby stream into what the family called a raging river, with flash floods carrying away entire homes nearby and leaving them unable to escape by vehicle. “She actually saw it first, the whole house just started to…float away,” says Kincade. “It was crazy seeing such a large house just uprooted like that, but it was about then whenever the water started coming from uphill from up the mountain too, it seemed like it got really crazy all at once,” says Rebekah. In an attempt to find safer and higher ground the family left the home on foot. Wanda suffers from multiple sclerosis — making it difficult for her to walk. Her son Kincade decided to carry her. “He just scooped me up, and carried me up the hill and it was kinda scary because it was slippery too, so it was concerning we were all gonna fall back down the hill and stuff,” says Wanda. Through it all, Wanda says she felt God’s presence. “And I did feel like he was there to protect us, and look out for us. And you know, yea it was scary but it was never to the point that I was terrified,” she says. Eventually the Heins were able to make their way to a nearby cabin home where they were able to stay for the next couple of days, and connect with family, friends, and fellow church members back in Chapin. That’s when they say their loved ones worked together non-stop to arrange for a Black Hawk helicopter to pick them up. “Next to our house almost became like a beach because of all the sand, it was crazy, and they were able to come down and they landed right next to the house, and picked us up and we got on it,” says Jeff. The pilots flew them to a safer field to regroup and help others in need, before flying them to Columbia. “It was absolutely amazing, and just incredible. But then it was also hard too, because we knew somebody was coming to get us, and it was just sad to think of all we were leaving behind, and two it was just a vacation for us, but these people lost everything,” says Wanda. Categories: Local News, News Tags: Hurricane Helene, Jeff Hein, Kincade Hein, Rebekah Bickley, Wanda Hein