Braving the waters

Brad Schmitt

Joel Boyers and his fiancée, Melody Among, were heading home from the Nashville airport after Among earned her helicopter's pilot license when he received a call from a stranger in Pennsylvania.

The desperate caller told Boyers that her brother and his two daughters were trapped on their roof in Waverly, 60 miles from Nashville.They were surrounded by rising floodwaters.Boyers, 41, looked west toward Waverly and saw the storm clouds.“No one will fly in this weather for good reason,” he said.But Boyers knew they would go back up.He put the brother's address into his phone and drove back to the airport with Among.Soon, they were in the air, unprepared for what they were about to see in Waverly.

The flooding, which would eventually claim 20 lives and destroy more than 270 homes, also took out cellphone service,meaning Boyers couldn't use his phone to locate the house he was looking for.He flew on anyway.Maybe he'd get lucky.They began searching for people staying on roofs, bridges—anywhere Boyers could land his helicopter and get them on board.

Boyers and Among's mission ended 90 minutes after it began, when professional rescue staff showed up.It was good timing—Boyers and Among were almost out of fuel after rescuing 17 people.As for the woman who originally contacted Boyers, she called back to say that her brother and his daughters had also been saved.

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