As floodwaters surged into Tennessee’s Nolichucky River, Boone McCrary headed out on his fishing boat to rescue a man from his collapsing home.
As the rose around the Nolichucky River in Tennessee, Boone McCrary, his girlfriend and his chocolate lab headed out on his fishing boat to search for a man who was stranded by floodwaters that had leveled his home. But the thick debris in the water jammed the boat’s motor, and without power, it slammed into a bridge support and capsized.
McCrary and his dog Moss never made it out of the water alive.
Search teams found McCrary’s boat and his dog’s body two days later, but it took four days to find McCrary, an emergency room nurse whose passion was being on his boat in that river. His girlfriend, Santana Ray, held onto a branch for hours before rescuers reached her.
David Boutin, the man McCrary had set out to rescue, was distraught when he later learned McCrary had died trying to save him.
«I’ve never had anyone risk their life for me», Boutin told The Associated Press. «From what I hear that was the way he always been. He’s my guardian angel, that’s for sure.»
The 46-year-old recalled how the force of the water swept him out his front door and ripped his dog Buddy — «My best friend, all I have» — from his arms. Boutin was rescued by another team after clinging to tree branches in the raging river for six hours. Buddy is still missing, and Boutin knows he couldn’t have survived.
McCrary was one of confirmed dead as of Friday across six states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia — after Hurricane Helene brought raging waters and falling trees to the region. That number included alone.
Officials said they expected the death toll to rise further as recovery efforts continued.
