A photo authentically documented the rescue of six North Carolina residents from a mudslide after their mountain cabin collapsed due to Hurricane Helene in September 2024.
Social media users shared a photo of two people standing over a man covered in mud in late September 2024 alongside a claim it showed workers rescuing six people from a North Carolina mountain building that collapsed in a mudslide due to Hurricane Helene.
The storm had led to at least 190 deaths as of this writing (archived) after wreaking havoc across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia.
Facebook user Mellanie Picklesimer appeared to first post the image on Sept. 30 (archived). She wrote: “Somebody praise with me!! We just got word that a friend of a family member took a builder crew to the NC mtns. They came upon a house collapsed in a mudslide. They began digging and were able to rescue 6 people!!! God is working and using the hands of those willing to go! Somebody SHOUT!”
Her post had been shared more than 11,000 times as of this writing. She also later broadcast a live video explaining what she knew of the photo and story, saying of the devastation left behind by Helene, “So many people are looking for hope in the middle of this.”
Many other Facebook users have since shared the same story and photo, which appeared to show two men attempting to rescue another who was covered in mud and had his eyes closed.
In short, this picture truly did authentically show the rescue of one of six men following a building collapse. The rescue occurred at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. While we were unable to definitively confirm some of the minor details in the copied-and-pasted posts — such as the matter involving “a builder crew” — evidence we reviewed from a firsthand account reflected that the larger story of the rescue was true.
‘The Taylorsville 6’
On Sept. 28, Facebook user Moises Rivera shared numerous photos and videos (archived) of rescue workers assisting at the extensively damaged YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly. The image of the man covered in mud was not included in the post, nor did it appear to be publicly visible anywhere on Rivera’s timeline.
Rivera said in his post that on Sept. 27, people on site rescued six men who were visiting from the town of Taylorsville, from a fallen cabin (possibly a cottage) and who experienced “serious injuries.”
Rivera’s post read, in part:
6 men from the Taylorsville church were injured with serious injuries but were able to get evacuated yesterday early on by the rescue team and paramedics. They’re believed to be in Asheville hospital but not confirmed. They do have a list of emergency contacts to reach to the families at the hospital. They asked no one drive there unless directly spoken to.
This was a miracle, the men that were staying next door to the fallen cabin ran out and risked their lives to save all 6 men that were being dragged in the rubble and carried to safety. Everyone then learned of the situation voluntarily started to help in anyway they could.
There was unity from all the men no matter where we came from or what church we belonged to, yesterday they all worked together to get the injured men to the ambulance and comfort one another. Boundaries were broken and new bonds were made. God bless this district.
Hours later, Rivera posted another update (archived), calling the six injured men the “Taylorsville 6”:
6 men have been hospitalized in Asheville area, they have not able to reach their families as roads are blocked and phone service is down. Please keep them in your prayers and when the time comes we will unite and raise funding for them. These men do not have insurance or paid time off, they depend on their physical strength and capacity to make a living. Please consider this and prepare a love offering of any amount, I know these men personally and they are close friends. They would never ask for anything from anyone, but we will give it to them in sign of love. #Taylorsville6
Further Evidence
Under Rivera’s initial post, he uploaded a photo of two men and commented: “These two men saw the 6 being dragged and initiated the rescue, the Taylorsville 6 were minutes from being buried alive.”
(Facebook user Moises Rivera Moises)
The man on the left of the above image was wearing similar clothes to one of the people in the picture of two men digging.
In another comment, Rivera posted a video showing unidentified people appearing to help an injured and mud-soaked man away from the floodwaters and into shelter. The clip showed the same man wearing the white shirt, hat and dark pants helping the person inside.
Further, the Facebook page for Salvando Almas para Cristo (Saving Souls for Christ) posted a video from the YMCA site showing several photos of people caring for injured men in a gymnasium and other rooms. The last picture shown in the video displayed the same photo from Picklesimer’s post and all of the other copied-and-pasted Facebook posts.
Additional Details
We reached out to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety to ask about Picklesimer’s story and its accompanying photo. A spokesperson for North Carolina Emergency Management said in an email on Oct. 2 they were not able to provide information about the described rescue, writing: “We checked with our operations unit for NCEM, and we don’t have specifics on this particular rescue, but this shows how people are helping people in our state in many different ways, including doing brave acts of heroism that you [described].”
Meanwhile, a person representing The Taylorsville Times newspaper told us by phone they had yet to become familiar with the story. After all, Rivera’s posts mentioning what he called the “Taylorsville 6” had not received a large number of shares.
Via Messenger, we sent questions to Picklesimer and the manager of the Salvando Almas para Cristo Facebook page but did not yet receive answers. Also, a representative with YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly said via Messenger that they could not confirm whether or not the photo originated on their property.
As of this writing, many areas across North Carolina and the other affected states were still in the early stages of recovering from Helene’s devastation. The Charlotte Observer reported of affected areas experiencing “widespread cellphone and internet blackouts.” We will update this story if we receive any further details.