Mules, Horse Who Helped With Helene Recovery Meet Tragic End
Vader the horse and his mule buddies Kev and Amigo were among the many heroes after Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina.
They were part of a team that carried supplies into places rescue trucks couldn't go, featured last year in the video above.
But the animals met a tragic end recently when a tree fell, allowing them to escape their pasture and wander into a road half-mile away.
All three were hit by a vehicle and died.
Vader, Kev and Amigo belonged to Mountain Mule Packer Ranch in Mt. Ulla, North Carolina, and also were used to train military personnel.
Michele Toberer and her husband Mike operate the ranch. They also have a nonprofit called Mission Mules, which aims to deploy their animals to other disaster zones.
'All of our animals are very special to us on many levels," Michele told us over the phone Tuesday.
(MORE: Helene Survivor Recounts 'Apocalyptic' Destruction)
The Toberers were out of town when they got a call from a neighbor at around 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 9, alerting them to what happened to Vader, Kev and Amigo.
'Hard situation," Michelle said. "We've played it through in our minds a million times in the past week.'
Toberer said she wasn't sure what caused the tree to fall that night, but it may have been weakened by time or weather or a combination of the two.
Weather.com digital meteorologist Sara Tonks noted that there had been stormy weather in the days leading up to the tree falling. High winds were reported in the general region in the hours before the animals were hit.
'The nearby weather station in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported mildly gusty winds on Feb. 8 up to 18 mph,' Tonks said. 'Light rain was reported during the day. Winds picked up overnight, and the weather station at UNC Charlotte measured a 27 mph gust at midnight.'
(MORE: February Is US Winter Storm Peak Much Like September Is For Hurricane Season)
A week after Vader, Kev and Amigo died, Mike Toberer headed out to help victims of recent flooding in other parts of the South.
'We have to keep going forward," Michele said.
Weather.com senior content writer Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.
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