Maid of honor in Asheville for bachelorette party survives flooding

Kali White was in an Airbnb in Asheville when Hurricane Helene brought devastating flooding to western North Carolina.

Video she posted Friday, Sept. 27, on TikTok shows a river of fast-moving brown water surrounding the home she rented for a bachelorette party.

White and her girlfriends were in the midst of a celebration. As the maid of honor, White had planned every detail of the weekend — except the historic flooding overtaking the mountains.

White said she recorded the video so others could see what she witnessed. It terrified her family.

“The current was crazy, you see it in the video,” White described. “I posted it on TikTok Friday morning and then I lost service. My family, that was the last that they saw, and they thought I floated down the river at that point, because I had no way to contact them.”

It took White’s boyfriend 12 hours to drive from Wendell, where she lives, to the bachelorette party in Asheville. He brought chainsaws and gallons of gas to get the bride and bridesmaids home.

White said the Airbnb was located at the bottom of the hill, and at one point firefighters told the group they had to evacuate. White was able to move her car 30 minutes before the water started rushing by.

The ladies were trying to make a game plan when the worst of the flooding began.

“The bride was like, well, it’s a three-story house. We can go up to the roof if we need to,” White recalled. “There was no way out for us. The road was completely flooded and the other side of the road was trees. So we had no way out unless a helicopter came at this point.”

The Airbnb had a hot tub, which floated around the home and landed on the air conditioning unit. The ladies used water from the hot tub to flush the toilet. They also collected wood and twigs, using sparks from a jumper cable to start a fire.

White said the Airbnb host had told her minimal flooding was expected before the trip, but no one knew how bad things would get. She is trying to get a refund for the missed weekend.

The bachelorette group had several activities planned around Asheville. White said some businesses just laughed when she asked about a possible refund.