I know that many of us have our own hero stories to tell in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.  

We survived power outages, no lights, downed powerlines, food spoilage, damaged roofs, leaning electrical poles, crushed cars, long gas lines, no air conditioning, daily eating or grilling out, relocations, generators that took $30 per day to run (ask me how I know), no gas fuel cans and not to mention the massive yard clean-ups that took days of chainsaws and rakes and backaches to clear away the debris, but we made it!

I am by no means downplaying anyone else’s story, but mine is a testimony.  I have seen first-hand how trees – oak, pine, pecan, popular, sycamore, maple, magnolia – pulled down powerlines as they were uprooted and lay toppled in hundreds of lawns, on streets and roads, in front yards in backyards – but my situation involved more than just one or two trees.  

I have never seen anything like it in my life.

You see, Hurricane Helene left a 23-foot-long log pileup in the middle of Willie Smith Road. These broken trees blocked all access – no going in and no getting out. 

Before the storm, the oak trees on the road towered the height of 3-4 story buildings, but Helene truncated these woody mammoths to the point that they resembled giant broken toothpicks.  Uprooted pines blocked the road, too.  It was a mangled mess, for sure.   

The scary part is that I am the only person who lives on this road, and there was no phone service.  After observing the massive pileup and the downed powerlines, frantic family members were apprehensive about seeking me out, all except my brother Larry Smith (my hero) who came knocking and began using his smaller CAT to remove the trees; sadly, the huge trees won. 

By this time, I had managed to crawl through the tangle to make a phone call, telling everyone that I was safe. My sister-in-law Janice Smith had the only landline phone that worked. Everyone should have one. Thank you, God, again. 

When I returned, they were there – my five friendly God-sent angels all wielding orange chainsaws and with one angel driving a big yellow CAT.  

JL Deal Farm crew to the rescue!

They were human worker ants. Less than two hours later, they had cleared the blocked road. They sawed up logs and tossed them aside as if they were firewood starter chips. I stood amazed at their precision and workmanship. They worked like one well-oiled machine. 

They knew exactly what to do, and they did it so well.  

Five men – Pablo, Juan, Crisanto, Franky, and Jesus (I don’t care how you pronounce his name; I can just testify that “Jesus” showed up.)

They cut and tossed the logs while Jordan Lamb drove the big yellow CAT, mowing downed trees like pencils.  

I am still amazed because I never called for their assistance. They just appeared out of the blue the day after the storm and started clearing the road.  

Now, don’t ever tell me that God won’t send angels to your rescue.  

In my case, God sent six of them – all confident professionals, all servants, all willing to lend a helping hand.  I will never forget them!

Thank you again, JL Deal Farm crew. I can never repay you for your kindness, so I hope that when others read this, they will congratulate you, too, on a job well-done.  

I will always think of you as my “six earthly angels,” and that’s a “Deal!”