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The Southeast region of the United States, including places in North Carolina like Swannanoa, had recently been struck by the deadly Hurricane Helene. On Monday, the North Carolina State Climate Office described the storm as the "worst-case scenario for western North Carolina." The Office further said:
"Torrential rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Helene capped off three days of extreme, unrelenting precipitation, which left catastrophic flooding and unimaginable damage in our Mountains and southern Foothills."
While several people were struggling, another distressful incident occurred at a wedding venue in Swannanoa. Attendees of a bridal party got busy trying to save the 8 abandoned farm animals at the property. The video of the same, which has now gone viral, was first shared on TikTok by Kelsey McDonnell, the bride at the party.
She claimed that the property owners responsible for the animals were the first to abandon them. While she didn't reveal the address of the venue, netizens claimed it was Hidden River Events. Soon, the business started getting bashed on the internet.
Kelsey said that when the party spoke to the staff about the animals who were almost drowning, they were told "to leave the animals to die." They, however, were desperate to save the animals, managing to save all of them except one donkey. The video has gained major traction online and has crossed 5 million views.
Bride and groom's families tried to save the animals despite the Swannanoa venue's wishes
As aforementioned, netizens claimed that the place in question was Hidden River Events, but no confirmation has been made for the same. Also, when Newsweek reached out to the business, they denied the allegations. When Kelsey shared the video on Monday, she posted it along with a caption that read:
"The wedding venue in Swannanoa told us to let their animals d*e rather than let them out of their areas. We couldn't stand by and watch as 8 farm animals drowned or got swept away by debris."
The Swannanoa venue bride further revealed that the wedding party had to use chainsaws to help free the goats, as the water was rising fast in their gated enclosures. A cousin of the bride and the groom then reportedly got into the deep water to open the fence and let the horses out, bringing them to dry ground.
Kelsey also spoke about the donkey named JJ who couldn't be saved. She revealed that they saw the animal swim for its life for about two hours before seemingly giving up. The video she posted included a man, deep in the water, trying to free the horses.
Reddit users then started to bash the Swannanoa wedding venue. A user wrote that they were planning to have their wedding over there, but didn't feel like going ahead with it anymore after the clip went viral. The user wrote:
"I was personally looking into booking this venue for my wedding, but I no longer can in good conscience. Just wanted to post this for people who may be looking into booking this venue in the future."
As for the state of North Carolina, it has been severely devastated by Hurricane Helene. Over 150 people have died and hundreds are missing, according to a report by NBC News.
