Desperate times call for desperate measures, especially when your wife’s breast milk is at stake.
For one North Carolina group of friends, those desperate measures were in full effect as they dealt with the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which tore through the Southeastern United States last month.
A TikTok video, which has been viewed by 1.3 million people, shows two of those friends, Josh Johnson and Graham Avery, going above and beyond to save a cooler filled with Graham’s wife’s breast milk.
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In the video, Josh and Graham are standing on opposite ends of raging flood waters with the cooler tied to a rope. The plan was to get the cooler across the water without losing or compromising any of the milk.
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Emily Singleton, who filmed and posted the video a few days ago, explained the situation in greater detail in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE.
“The bridge out of their house had became inaccessible due to extremely high water, and they had to shimmy across fallen trees to get out,” she said, adding that the video was taken in Roaring Creek, NC.
“This was obviously not a viable option to safely get the heavy cooler out, packed with frozen meats from their then-thawing freezer, to keep the breastmilk cold,” she continued.
Singleton has advice for parents in similar predicaments
According to Singleton, the raging Roaring Creek was useful in more ways than just one. Not only did it allow Graham and Josh to reel the cooler across the flood, but it helped keep the milk cold in the process.
“If you are ever in this scenario without a generator … creeks and rivers and springs can keep milk cold for a few days, which is what all of our Mamaws and Papaws had to do growing up,” Singleton says.
The CDC claims that freshly-expressed breast milk can be safely stored at room temperature (77°F or colder) for up to four hours, in the refrigerator for up to four days, and the freezer for up to six months.
Singleton said the creek came in handy, especially since they’ve been without power for 11 days.
And since the roads were destroyed by the hurricane, many linesmen are having a hard time getting to some places. As a result, many areas don’t have power and might not have power for a while.
Hurricane Helene killed more than 200 people in the US
Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 27, 2024, as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 140 mph before rapidly weakening as it moved inland.
The storm caused heavy rainfall, flooding, and power outages, particularly in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Many areas are still dealing with the aftermath.
As of Oct. 7, more than 230 people have been killed from Hurricane Helene, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005, when nearly 1,400 people died.
And now, roughly two weeks after Helene landed, the Florida coastline is bracing for yet another intense storm as Hurricane Milton approaches. Many outlets expect the storm to make landfall on Thursday.
According to a report by The Associated Press, “Milton is forecast to weaken to a Category 3 storm as it hits the west coast of Florida on Wednesday evening.”