A South Carolina pilot, Jordan Seidhom, who was rescuing stranded victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, says he was threatened with arrest if he continued flying to help survivors.
Seidhom, along with his teenage son Landon, had been conducting rescue missions over the weekend, using his helicopter to transport victims to safety after roads were washed away and hundreds of people were left stranded in the aftermath of the hurricane.
The father-son duo flew to the flood-ravaged Lake Lure region and assisted people in need, including two women stranded at the top of a mountain and two vacationers trapped in their Airbnb. They successfully transported four people to safety, even taking some to Charlotte-Douglas Airport so they could make their way home.
However, while Seidhom was conducting further rescue flights on Sunday, he says he was confronted by an unnamed Lake Lure fire official who told him that there was a flight restriction in the area. The official allegedly said Seidhom would be arrested if he continued making rescue flights.
“There were other victims. As we were flying out, leaving the area, we saw people within 300 or 400 yards waving for help,” Seidhom revealed.
After being told to stop, Seidhom had to leave his son and a victim on the side of a mountain while he flew the victim’s wife to a group of first responders nearby. He intended to return immediately to collect his son and the other victim. However, the fire official allegedly refused to let him go back, insisting that he leave his son and the stranded individual behind.
“I explained to him that I left my son on the side of the mountain and that I needed to go back to get him and the other victim. He told me I wasn’t going back up the mountain to get them, and I was going to leave them there,” Seidhom said.
Within half an hour of the confrontation, a temporary flight restriction was reportedly placed over Lake Lure, preventing Seidhom from conducting further rescues. The restriction was lifted on Monday, allowing Seidhom to return to the area, where he delivered food and water to stranded victims with the help of the Carolina Emergency Response Team.
Reflecting on the incident, Seidhom expressed his disappointment over being prevented from rescuing more people and criticized the official’s actions, which he believes put lives in jeopardy. “If I had to do it over again, I would have stopped and I would have rescued as many people until they decided they were going to arrest me,” he said.
Officials in the town of Lake Lure could not immediately be reached for comment.
Hurricane Helene struck Florida last Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane before devastating parts of the Southeast, leaving at least 140 people dead. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to visit the affected areas in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to assess the damage.
