So she turned to Facebook to ask if anyone saw her.
“I don’t know if she got home from church,” Howell, 43, wrote in a post. She said, “She is worried that she may be left behind by Dismal. She is driving a red Honda Civic.”
In the midst of a storm, Howell, who lives about three hours from Buchanan County, said she felt helpless. Her brother and sister were also out of the county to help find her mother.
She said she published her Facebook post in the hope that more people from the affected community would see it.
“I basically had to be a private detective to find my mother,” Howell said.
Within hours, a series of messages from different people helped to assemble the puzzle and find the mother who was safely taken.
Put together rescue pieces
Approximately an hour after Howell placed her post, an old high school friend sent her a photo of a red Honda Civic trapped in mud near a foot high. The car window was rolled up and I saw the words “Live, Laugh, Love” on the windshield behind.
“The way I knew it was her car,” Howell said.
She shared a photo on Facebook and wrote, “I was as calm as possible humanly … my mother’s car was found in the Dismal mudflow.”
Hours after the first message, another man sent her a message saying that he and the rescue team helped her mother get out of the car after being caught in a mudflow and flash floods.
Immediately after that message, Howell received another message. This time from Deputy Rusty Sykes, Deputy Sheriff of Buchanan County, she took her mother from the flood zone to a nearby dwelling and informed her that she was safe.
Then another high school friend sent a message saying Howell’s mother spent the night at her aunt’s house.
The next day, 67-year-old Ellen Howell was arrested by authorities and taken to her home, her daughter learned.
“I still can’t believe the overflow of support I got,” Nancy Howell told CNN.
Members of the church community went to investigate her mother and reported that she was safe and well, but she said the phone was still not working after the storm.
Nancy Howell said she was grateful to everyone who provided the information, as well as county and state officials.
I was relieved by the news, but when I finally heard my mother’s voice, I felt better.
David Williams of CNN contributed to this report.
Source: www.cnn.com
