BURNSVILLE, N.C. – Project DYNAMO, a veteran-led nonprofit organization, which conducts humanitarian search-and-rescue operations worldwide, repositioned from Columbus on Friday after being requested by the local incident commander to support search-and-rescue operations in the Burnsville area northeast of Asheville.
On Saturday morning, 10 Project DYNAMO team members in three off-road vehicles, a truck with a trailer towing four horses, and a truck with a boat, traversed Highway 19 West. They moved about five miles across the devastated highway, which was severely eroded from the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
DYNAMO then deployed four riders and their horses into the disaster area, traveling up steep mountainous terrain, conducting more than two dozen health and welfare checks to families in the high mountain ridges and handing out supplies until it became too dangerous for the horses to proceed.
Notably, the team from Project DYNAMO assisted a married couple in crossing the Cane River so they could get to their home, reuniting them with their pets, including 10 cats, and gather belongings for the first time since they left the home in the wake of the storm.
Since operations began, Project DYNAMO has made contact with hundreds of residents in the rural areas surrounding Asheville completing search, rescue and humanitarian work.
“Seeing the power of nature and the destruction it left behind has been horrific,” said Mario Duarte, Project DYNAMO’s president and CEO. “However, I was able to witness the true spirit of American unity, which is Americans helping each other in their time of need. The people who are here truly care about each other, and it’s beautiful to witness amid the backdrop of this devastating tragedy.”
Project DYNAMO will continue operations in western North Carolina through at least Monday, while the team monitors Tropical Storm Milton in the Gulf of Mexico, as many of Project DYNAMO’s team members live throughout Florida and the southeast U.S.
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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