Father walks nearly 30 miles amid Hurricane Helene to attend daughter’s wedding

Amid Hurricane Helene’s devastating effect in several states of the United States, a father covered a 30-mile journey on foot from South Carolina to Tennessee to walk his daughter down the aisle at her weddingon Saturday morning.

The father, David Jones, risked his life as Hurricane Helene hit the US in the past daysand trekked overnight for five-and-a-half hours, most of it in total darkness.

If the hurricane had not affected, it would have been a two-hour drive from Boiling Springs, South Carolina, to Johnson City, Tennessee. However, it turned into an almost 27-mile overnight journey, the 64-year-old father told USA TODAY on Monday.

"I think every dad would do everything they could to get to their daughter's wedding," Jones said. "Like the scripture says, 'With God, anything is possible.' I think this was a prime example of that."

The Southeast is still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Helene, as millions of people are still without power, thousands of homes are flooded.

Jones’journey to his daughter’s wedding

Jones was traveling with his wife and her mother and was already in the process of moving from Johnson City to Boiling Springs when Hurricane Helene made landfall. The original plan was for them to drive to Johnson City on Friday so he could walk his daughter down the aisle by 11 am on Saturday.

"I had no cell phone service, no internet or anything like that, so I had no idea the extent of the devastation that lay ahead," Jones said.

He added that he has lived in Tennessee for 42 years and did not expect thedegree of destruction caused by the storm.

Watch |Hurricane Helene Sparks Widespread Humanitarian Crisis Across US States

As he started driving out of South Carolina, he kept getting distracted due to traffic and detours. "At one point, it took me three hours to go 10 miles," he said.

Jones decided to get as close to Johnson City as he could so if worst came to worst, then he could be FaceTimed into the wedding and walk his daughter down the aisle virtually. To make it possible, he left behind his Ford Explorer at the exit on Interstate 26 and began travelling on foot towards the bridge that troopers said was washed out.

"I grabbed my backpack, threw in my shaving kit and a couple of days of socks and underwear, grabbed my windbreaker, and off I went," Jones said.

Despite the debris and "quicksand-like" mud ahead of him, he got through the wreckage and back on the Interstate. Jonas, eventually, travelled 26.82 miles, which included 10 by car and about 17 by foot.

He said that the entire experience was a "full circle moment" that ended with Jones, his daughter and their family hugging and shedding tears.

(With inputs from agencies)