WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Amber Nelson and her family barely escaped with their lives from the Nolichucky River's rising floodwaters at her home on A.J. Willis Road last Sept. 27 — possessions were an afterthought.

"I saw a two-story house come down the river, and it hit the bank right behind our car," Nelson told News Channel 11 at the property where her home was moved fully off its foundation.

"It sounded supersonic, and that's when I knew we needed to get out." Hurricane Helene had sent the nearby Nolichucky River to record levels.

"Whitewater rescue came and they said if it would have been three or four more minutes, us waiting around we would have been dead," she said.

She, her mother and her grandmother escaped with little more than their lives.

"I had a plastic tote, an

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