Workers cleared a road in Fairview, North Carolina on Sunday.

It had been 48 hours since Hurricane Helene’s winds and rain tore through western North Carolina, and Sam Perkins still hadn’t heard from his parents.

So he got into his car Saturday morning and drove to their home, located on a mountain between Spruce Pine and Little Switzerland, to find them.

“My parents live in an absolute gem of the North Carolina mountains,” Perkins said in a post about his experience. The area is about an hour’s drive from Asheville. “Under normal circumstances it is pleasantly isolated,” he added in a post about his experiences.

‘I didn’t know Helene demolished roads, houses and utilities there. This area is completely cut off from raw materials in all directions.”

By CNN’s count, at least 93 people are dead after Helene ripped through the southeastern United States. North Carolina was hit hard: Days of persistent flooding turned roads into waterways, leaving many stranded without basic necessities and straining state resources.

Gov. Roy Cooper called it “one of the worst storms in modern history.” Although supplies have been deployed, at least 280 roads are still closed across the state, making it difficult for officials to get them to areas in need, Cooper said.

When he realized how many roads had been cut, Perkins said he left his car near a closed highway at the bottom of the mountain and started walking to his parents’ house.

“I tried every road route I could, but the roads, wherever you go, are blocked by landslides or faults,” Perkins explained to CNN. “I can’t tell you how many bad roads and deep mudslides I’ve had to cross, how many fallen trees I’ve had to take off my backpack and navigate through.”

While walking, Perkins said he came across several people stuck because of the destroyed highway. For more than three and a half hours, Perkins said he hiked 11 miles and 2,000 feet in elevation to finally reach his parents’ home.

“I’ve never been so relieved to see someone doing well,” Perkins told CNN, adding that his parents are in their 70s but quite resourceful people.

“I just hugged them, cried, told them about all the news they were missing…Walked around the building and helped them decide how to tackle certain challenges.”

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