Georgia man shares story of survival in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene: 'Increased my faith in God'

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Georgia man recounts harrowing survival story in North Carolina mountains after Hurricane Helene: 'We were trapped'

Kyle Vargas and his brother documented their 13-mile hike through the mountains of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene and credit God with their safe return home. Credit: WAGA

A Georgia man is thanking God after narrowly surviving being stranded in the North Carolina mountains during and directly after Hurricane Helene devastated the state on September 27.

Kyle Vargas of McDonough, Georgia hiked 13 miles on foot through the mountains after being stranded in the Tar Heel state while visiting Ashland with his brother for a work trip.

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"Just to look around and see trees everywhere and cars in sinkholes and stuff smashed…like I never seen anything like that before," Vargas told FOX 5 Atlanta. "Man, I could cry right now… He just always showing me He got me."

Kyle Vargas and his brother fled Asheville on foot over concern for his wife after Hurricane Helene. (WAGA)

Vargas said that strangers offered the two men rides along the way, which they documented with video, and God helped him find his way back home to his wife. The two made it home without the use of GPS and after Vargas' wife had given up looking for them.

"I knew God was just sending people our way," said Vargas to FOX 5 Atlanta. "All it did was increase my faith in God."

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The Vargas brothers turned to evacuate the area on foot after being stranded for one day in the area over concern for Kyle's wife. Many mountain roads were made nonfunctional for cars by downed trees and mudslides.

Vargas credits God with his safe return home after the devastation of Hurricane Helene. (WAGA)

"We didn’t think the storm was going to cause as much damage as it caused on the mountain that it did," said Vargas to FOX 5 Atlanta. "Basically, we were trapped…we were stuck."

The trek through the mountains took hours and the brothers had practically no phone service.

Kyle Vargas said he and his brother had to rinse off their boots in a nearby river to remove caked-on mud. (WAGA)

"We walked about 13 miles climbing over trees, walking through the mud that slid down on the road from the landslides, we had to rinse our feet off in a river," said Vargas to FOX 5 Atlanta. 

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The latest number of deaths recorded from the impact of Hurricane Helene is 225 as of the publishing of this article.