02-04-2025
Community Heroes: Kayla Frazier wasted no time helping others during Helene floods
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A washed-out bridge, no power and no cell service didn't stop this week's Community Hero from helping others. Kayla Frazier's efforts to assist her neighbors when they were trapped after Hurricane Helene sent floodwaters surging undoubtedly saved lives.
Frazier got home just in time to see the bridge she had just crossed to her neighborhood wash away on Sept. 27. She immediately started helping others.
'So the first night, right after it hit, my husband and I used our side-by-side to actually get people across the broken pavement to the other side where they needed to go,' she said. 'We also ended up rescuing a dog that stayed all night at my house because the owners had to be evacuated by boat and couldn't take their dogs with them.'
Kayla also delivered supplies to her neighbors and even did volunteers' laundry.
'Some of the volunteers didn't have anywhere to do laundry, and I was fortunate enough to get my water back. So I just started doing people's clothes.'
She eventually helped other groups like Mountain Mule Packer Ranch deliver Christmas gifts to those affected by the hurricane. She also helped a veteran who was temporarily displaced.
'I've done his laundry for the last little bit,' she told News Channel 11. 'He's now moved into a FEMA trailer and has his own washer and dryer. But I still just kind of keep an eye on him if he needs anything. So he's had a lot of people help him. There's been tons of people over there that just chipped in, and we've just taken care of our neighbors.'
Neighbors take care of neighbors through catastrophic weather and beyond.
'Everybody just helped everybody,' she said. 'They didn't care and everybody just rallied around each other and did what we needed to do to take care of our own.'
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