Texas truck driver and former Marine Michael Dorsey has trouble sleeping, haunted by the memory of battling for his life as hurricane-fueled floodwaters overturned his tractor-trailer.

It was a late September morning, and Dorsey was loading his flatbed with pipe at an industrial park in Erwin, Tennessee.

The industrial park is just a few hundred feet from the Nolichucky River. As Hurricane Helene dumped record levels of rain on eastern Tennessee, the river rose rapidly.

The industrial park parking lot soon flooded, so he allowed 10 people from the business next door to climb onto the trailer to get above the water and another woman to sit inside his cab.

“The most terrifying part was just watching the water come, rise as we were just sitting, not knowing what to expect,” Dorsey said.

Riding A Raging River

Just 15-20 minutes later, the water turned into a raging flood and flipped the truck. Dorsey helped the woman out of the cab and they clambered onto the trailer shortly before it separated from the tractor. 

The flood carried the trailer downstream with the 12 people hanging on to it.

When the trailer capsized, they hung on to the plastic pipes that had come loose. They rode the current until they could grab onto some brush at the edge of the water, where emergency personnel rescued them.

Dorsey was one of only six who survived.

The Truckload Carriers Association named Dorsey a TCA Highway Angel for using his trailer to keep flood victims afloat and alive.

Dorsey thinks about the ones who didn’t make it.

“I can’t hardly sleep because I keep thinking about … all of the people that died,” Dorsey said.

“If I wouldn’t have been there, those people that survived wouldn’t have made it — it would have been impossible. God had me there for a reason.”

Being Prepared for Natural Disasters

While the National Hurricane Center can usually forecast a hurricane like Helene with great accuracy, few expected such devastating results this far inland, and many people weren’t prepared.

Helene and Hurricane Milton, which hit in early October, destroyed trucks and trailers and cut off access to key freight corridors. Some carriers had to reroute freight and secure additional dock space when terminals and warehouses were damaged. Part of I-40 was closed for months.

How well is your trucking fleet prepared for a disaster like Hurricane Helene, the Los Angeles wildfires from earlier this year, or deadly tornadoes? An earthquake? Even a severe thunderstorm can cut power, damage buildings, and cause flooding.