Even amid tragedy, sometimes miracles do happen. A Tennessee dog survived the floodwaters of Hurricane Helene by escaping up a tree. Unfortunately, the dog ended up stranded 20 feet from the ground.
The Kingsport Fire Department revealed the remarkable tale in a Facebook post. The Technical Rescue Team and the Murfreesboro Police Department found the dog in the tree. It was quite a shocking find. Exactly how the pup ended up there is anyone's guess. But the rising waters likely played a part.
Fortunately, authorities managed to reunite the dog with its owners. The find comes thanks to a fellow police dog. It alerted rescuers to the stranded dog in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. From there, they got a ladder and rescued the animal. The K9 Kari's handler said she started barking in the direction of the dog.
Tennessee Dog Found
"The funny thing about Kari is she is not fond of other dogs but this time it was different," Angela Alexander said. "I'm so proud of her helping to find something good in all the devastation caused by the flooding."
The dog's name is Athena. She was happy to be free. They wrote, "She has been turned over to the local animal control for a hopeful reunion with her family." Her family got separated from her during Hurricane Helene. Initially, Allie and TJ Faulkner thought their dog was dead. They evacuated their children during Helene. When TJ returned to the home to rescue their dog, he was unable to.
"We took his front-end loader and put it up against a building and climbed up on the building," TJ said. "A bunch of debris pushed up against my front porch. It was metal steel beams. It collapsed my front porch. When it done that, it just pushed my house and it floated like an arc."
Capt. Zach Helvey of the KFD said talked about finding the dog. He said, "I climbed up there, I gave her a little bit more food and kind of just made sure she wasn't gonna nip at me." They later reunited her with her family.
"It's like another member of our family, it's like another child," TJ said. "She means a lot to us."
