Dog Saved From 20-Foot Tree After Being Swept Away In Helene Flooding

A small dog that authorities said was washed 20 feet into a tree by the powerful floodwaters of Hurricane Helene last week is back on solid ground thanks to some local firefighters and a K-9 unit in east Tennessee.

The gray and white dog was plucked from a nest of debris near the Nolichucky River in Washington County on Wednesday after a K-9 search team alerted rescuers on the ground to her whereabouts, the Kingsport Fire Department said in a statement.

Firefighters with the department were able to climb the tree with a ladder and retrieve the dog before giving her food and water.

“A lot of people were displaced, and the waters came up pretty fast. So them finding that dog yesterday was a bright spot in the middle of this chaos,” Barry Brickey, a public information officer with the Kingsport Fire Department, told HuffPost.

The dog was later taken to a local animal control facility and was expected to be reunited with her family on Thursday, the department said.

According to online posts credited to relatives of the dog’s owner, the family’s home was destroyed when floodwaters quickly rushed onto the property, leaving them unable to rescue their two dogs and cat.

“They tried saving them but got stuck on a neighbor’s roof and had to wait for (a) rescue team to save them,” read one online post seeking help finding the lost animals.

A growing number of displaced pets have been found since the catastrophic storm washed through the region last week.

As of Wednesday night, the Washington County animal shelter, which took in the small gray dog, said it has sheltered 77 animals from the storm within the last six days, bringing the total number of animals at the shelter up to 500.

“The past week has been unbelievably hard, heartbreaking and devastating for everyone in East Tennessee. The amount of loss people are coping with is unbearable,” the shelter said in a statement. “Our Animal Control Officers are working around the clock to help animals in need … Our amazing volunteers have done anything we need. We could never care for these innocent pets without everyone doing their part.”