Carl and Linda McMurray lost everything they owned in the Hurricane Helene flooding last September — and for about 24 hours, each thought they’d lost the other.
The couple, who will be married for 58 years in June, lived in their large 125-year-old family home just over the bridge to the small community of Taylors Valley near the town of Damascus.
On Sept. 27, after days of heavy rain, Southwest Virginia was hit by the inland effects of the hurricane. The Damascus area got the worst of it, with the storm dumping an additional 4 to 6 inches on the small Washington County town and its communities.
On that afternoon, the bridge to Taylors Valley was dammed up by debris, which sent the water from Whitetop Laurel Creek directly into the community. The couple watched the water rise and eventually the house came off its foundation, started to float and then split into two pieces.
There was a loud crash, and the last thing Linda saw of her husband was him going into the water — where he would remain, clinging to a tree, for six hours before being rescued.
The section of the house Linda was in moved downstream. She sat up all night in a rocking chair in what was left of her sewing room.
“I floated on down and, for 16 hours, the water was swift around me. I was hearing rocks and limbs, big trees hitting the building. And I thought the next one will probably send me on down the river,” she said.
Over and over, she debated whether to jump into the water and try to swim out or stay put. She taught swimming in college, but at the age of 84, she wasn’t sure she would make it.
She prayed the Lord’s Prayer and recited Psalm 23 repeatedly, trying to draw comfort and strength from the familiar words, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. …” 
She thought of their children, their 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She saw red lights and thought God had sent angels to help her.
Linda kept hearing the unmistakable sounds of a helicopter and thought it was looking for her — little did she know it was there to rescue her husband.
“If I’d have known that, I would have been singing hymns of joy,” she said.
Finally, morning light came and the water receded some. Around 8 a.m., Linda was rescued by neighbors, carried out in the rocking chair she had remained in all night.
Around 1 p.m., the couple finally reunited at their son’s home. Carl — his face already showing the bruises he’d suffered during the “harrowing” ordeal — had been treated and released from the hospital.
“It wasn’t a pretty sight. He was black and blue and, oh, that hug and that kiss was wonderful when we were first reunited,” she said.
Seven months later, that wooden rocking chair — the only thing left from their home — is the sole piece of furniture in their new house, a small, single-level gray ranch with three bedrooms and two baths.
The couple and the dedication of their new house were cause for a celebration last Thursday that drew more than 100 people, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin as well as friends, family and volunteers who have worked to help the McMurrays and others whose lives were upended by the storm.
The community has reason to celebrate and many to thank. A total of 83 homes were significantly damaged and about 20 more were destroyed; the damage estimate was $4.5 million to $5.5 million, according to Town Manager Chris Bell.
In a little more than 200 days, 80 homes have been repaired, four have been built, four more are expected to be completed in about a month, and two “tiny” homes were donated, he added. 
A homegrown effort to help
In the days immediately after the flooding, those in Damascus and the county realized pretty quickly there was a lot to be done and they needed some help, Bell said. They formed a volunteer nonprofit called Trails to Recovery, which has organized recovery efforts, handled donations of money and materials and overseen those repairing and building homes.
Tony Miller, who came out of retirement to lead the effort, serves as chair of the group’s 11-member executive committee. He said Trails to Recovery has now raised about $1.5 million in direct donations and about another $500,000 worth of donations of lumber and other materials.
Miller said his number got out and in one day, he got 454 calls and messages from people who wanted to volunteer to help. He said thousands of people have been involved in the effort.
Faith-based organizations step in
Most of the building and repair work has been done by volunteers with faith-based organizations. The Mennonite Disaster Service built the new houses, including the McMurrays’ new home.
Impact Missions, a ministry of the Baptist General Association of Virginia, has handled most of the repairs to damaged homes, said Butch Meredith, the group’s construction coordinator. The group arrived just a few days after the flooding and has been there ever since.
The Mennonite service and Impact Missions have also helped rebuild in Buchanan County, which was hit by back-to-back flooding events that destroyed and damaged homes and businesses during the summers of 2021 and 2022.
Volunteers with the Mennonite group participated in the house dedication in Taylors Valley and sang a hymn. 
Youngkin said the story of the storm and Taylors Valley is one of love between a couple that “is doing a lot more than just inspire Taylors Valley, and Washington County and the commonwealth of Virginia. They’re inspiring a nation — a nation that needs to be inspired.”
He said the heroes of the story are the first responders, the swift-water rescue teams, the volunteers, the National Guard, the Virginia State Police, those with Trails to Recovery, and many others.
The governor pointed out that all that has been accomplished over such a short period was done without federal money, but he assured the crowd that state help is coming. On Friday, he said he will sign the state budget, which will make $50 million available for Helene relief.
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, assured the crowd that nearly $6 million for waterline improvements in the Damascus area is also on the way. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded three Hurricane Helene-related grants that will help the Washington Service Authority repair and replace the lines, he added. 
Moving on and making new memories
As for the McMurrays, they no longer must worry about being flooded out anytime soon. Their new house is perched atop a hill behind the spot where they lived for so many years. The site was once a hayfield, Linda said.
The elevation gives them a sweeping view of the valley below, which Linda called “the best view in America.”
During last week’s ceremony, they signed the deed to the house and were given the keys. This week, they plan to pick out furniture, which is being donated for all the new houses, and then make the move.
Linda admits that she’s still grieving for all that was lost — the large home that held so much of her family’s history, the furnishings and photos that were swept away or ruined by the water.
“The house that we loved is gone — 125 years of love had been in the house. My grandparents raised 12 children there. … My mother was born there, I was born there,” she said, adding that people who hiked or biked the Virginia Creeper Trail, which ran by the house, would often stop and ask about its history.
She would tell them that her claim to fame was going to be that she was born and died in the same house.
“And I almost did that. … He wasn’t ready for us that day we both came so close. But God let us know there’s still something for us to do,” although they don’t yet know what that will be, she said.
The couple has a history of helping others. They volunteered to help those impacted by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Hurricane Ivan in Florida, Carl said.
In the meantime, they plan to continue working for their community and their church.
Linda said she and Carl are looking forward to settling into their new house and making new memories there.
“The house is not as big,” she said. “But when we’re together, we’ll just hug each other and love on each other, and it’ll be great.” 
