BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. – Project DYNAMO, a veteran-led nonprofit organization, which conducts humanitarian search-and-rescue operations domestically and internationally, completed their first series of horseback search-and-rescue missions in western North Carolina Thursday in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
A team of 10 Project DYNAMO volunteers traveled from Columbus, N.C. to Black Mountain, N.C., navigating and clearing washed out roads with a scout vehicle and three trucks and trailers carrying seven horses. Team members used chainsaws to clear fallen trees, making the roads passable for the convoy and others to proceed.
After reaching a road that had been completely washed away in the flooding, Project DYNAMO unloaded the horses. The horses and their riders then traversed several hundred yards and crossed a river to locate the other side of the washed out road, and rode about two miles up the mountainous terrain. The horse team was supported along the way by a volunteer-owned INEOS Grenadier, a specialized off-road vehicle, which just became available in the U.S. earlier this year.
Once up the mountain, the team made contact with stranded residents, providing them with several cases of meals-ready-to-eat (MREs), water and other necessities. After making it up the mountain, Project DYNAMO’s team learned that the family that the team had been searching for had already made their way to safety. The horseback team continued up the mountain performing wellness checks. The remainder of the families located on the mountain chose to remain in their homes for the time being.
Project DYNAMO also located several horses in need of rescue, and made contact with a specialized horse-rescue organization. The team from Project DYNAMO transported the horse-rescue team across the river utilizing the Grenadier and several horses and brought that rescue organization to the abandoned horses in need of rescue.
Simultaneously, another team comprised of mostly veterans from Project DYNAMO, conducted wellness checks and searched for elderly persons reported missing by their families in Burnsville and Bakersville.
On Friday, Project DYNAMO is scheduled to perform more search-and-rescue operations.
Founded during the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, Project DYNAMO is an international search, rescue, aid and assistance 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Tampa, Florida with worldwide operations. Project DYNAMO operates where the United States government cannot, or does not. The primary objective of Project DYNAMO is to provide assistance to those impacted in disaster areas and conflict zones throughout the world. Notably, Project DYNAMO conducted the first air-rescue missions from Afghanistan after the Taliban took control, and has negotiated the release and exfiltrated numerous Americans from captivity and false imprisonment.
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