North Carolina family travels to Fort Wayne after Hurricane Helene impacts their town

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – Maxwell and Tayona Miller had their lives turned upside down when the small town of Barnardsville, North Carolina was impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Now, they’re traveling to Fort Wayne for safety and to collect resources to take back to Barnardsville.

The Millers and their four kids were stranded at their home for three days.

Their home is still standing, but they’ve lost several things and their garage was filled with water and mud. They also say several of their neighbors lost their homes in the storm.

“Being hit with the realization that the lives of my family are at risk and I am completely powerless I have no control over what is going to happen, I have no ability to protect my four small children was definitely one of the hardest moments of my life,” says Maxwell.

Once they were able to leave they needed a plan. As former Fort Wayne residents, they decided to come back to The Summit City where they have a lot of friends that are more like family.

“At first we didn’t know where we were gonna go or what we were gonna do and knowing that we had them and their love and that my kids would be welcomed by their friends and that they would be able to be normal kids again with them I think was a big reason why we were like, ‘let’s go there,’” says Tayona.

One of those friends is Tarah Ihrie. Ihrie created a GoFundMe for families in the town of Barnardsville. If you want to help out, you can go to the page linked here.

The Millers just want everyone to know how special their town is.

“It’s life-changing to be there and to experience it and to see the destruction around it right now and to know that the access for others to go experience that life-changing environment, that life-changing not just scenery but connection with nature and with themselves is heartbreaking,” says Maxwell.

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