Support Tyler and Lizzie's Journey to Recovery

CNN PTSD is kicking in': Hurricane Helene survivor

Hi, I’m Deb, and my husband Jonathan Moore and I are raising money to help our friend Tyler Covarrubias and his partner Lizzie Brewer get back on their feet after losing everything to Hurricane Helene in Bat Cave, NC.

Many of you who have worked with Tyler at Balzer & Associates or Wetlands Studies and Solutions, Inc. know what an awesome and caring person he is. We want to help Tyler and Lizzie rebuild after this terrible ordeal.

This is Tyler's story in his own words:

*"This is our story of survival. This is all real, and I have PTSD and maybe believe in God now. I don’t know when I will feel normal again.

I lived on 9 across Rocky River Lane. We got up at about 5:30 am to the sound of boulders smacking the bridge and the river roaring. The first house across the bridge had two people in it still. We waved them over, and they drove a truck over the bridge at the last possible moment. I stood there and prayed that we weren’t about to watch them die. They made it to us. Their names are Dylan and Larsen, and we are family now.

We hung out on our porch for a little bit, maybe 10 minutes, as we watched each house across the river get destroyed. We watched their BMW get washed away. Soon the water was rising to us, and we had to go. The only way was up 9.

Both of us got in our cars and drove up maybe 50 yards before we realized that we couldn’t drive anymore. The roads were beginning to give. We stayed in the car for a minute, and a landslide smacked us towards the guardrail as we were in it. Everything turned black and brown. We got out, grabbed our cats. Our only option was to wait there, with the violent, raging river behind us and a mountain just breaking down in front of us. This is when I thought we were going to die. We were holding our cats, just standing near the guardrail.

Soon enough, the road and guardrail were beginning to slide off. We were running out of options fast. The road up 9 had a giant crevice that we had to cross. This was our only option for survival. Some people were up ahead on 9, thank God, and came down and helped us across with the cats. We went up and took shelter at a very nice couple’s house—Don and Linda, I believe.

After it stopped raining, we headed back down 9 to see, and the other car with us was gone. The road was completely gone. The river is now 100 feet wide, and nothing looks the same. We made it to the fire department and spent the night. We were flown out yesterday via helicopter. People are still there and need to be evacuated. There are many elderly people that simply cannot hike down the broken road and river.

I don’t know how anyone can help us yet. Money will definitely help when the time comes to find a new place to live, a car, clothes—just everything. This is still so raw, and we will be messed up for a while, if not forever, from this. One thing for sure is that I now have a huge family of people that we shared this experience with. I will never forget any person that helped us or that we helped. I am forever grateful for the Bat Cave community. It was never a lot of us to begin with, but we made damn sure that everyone was going to be taken care of. It’s a feeling that I cannot describe."*

Please consider donating to help Tyler and Lizzie as they start to rebuild their lives. Any amount will make a difference as they find a new home and replace everything they've lost. Thank you so much for your support.