OLD FORT, N.C. — Old Fort has about 800 people. It's a small town with big survival stories, like this one from a home with a 'door to nowhere'.
"So this is our house. It was our house," said Scotty Swann of Old Fort.
You might not notice it at first, but walk inside his house and you can easily see it is covered in mud.
"That's the water line," said Swann as he pointed to where the wall meets the ceiling.
If the waterline was up to their ceiling, that meant they had to eventually be, on the roof.
The couple, Scotty and Vera ended up on their roof. They got there by using something they always thought was strange in their house. A small door that opened to their pitched rooftop.
"If that door wasn't there I don't know what we would've done. The door to nowhere let us onto the roof and that's when the water rescue put us on the inflatables without the door to nowhere. Well it saved our life," said Vera Pinkard.
When you think that the damage and the rescue story is the story, they would tell you what happened afterward is what really counts.
"I tell you family and friends, strangers. People just help. It's like that's what an American is. It's being humane to someone else," said Swann.
Friends and family brought a camper so that Scotty and Vera would have a clean place to stay and so that they could watch their property. There have been a lot of reports of looting all around Western North Carolina since the storm came through and knocked power and water out.