The college football team is stranded on buses on the flooded highway due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene

A college football team was stranded on buses in the middle of a flooded North Carolina highway Friday evening as Hurricane Helene continued to cause flash flooding in several southeastern states.

The team, East Tennessee State University (ETSU), was on its way to a game in Charlston to face The Citadel. But the team’s buses only made it to Exit 44 on I-26 when they encountered flood water and had to pull over to the side of the road.

“Due to the flooding, we have been stranded on our buses outside of Asheville since 11 a.m. today. We were on our way to Charleston to play The Citadel tomorrow at 2 p.m. but are stuck tonight sleeping on the buses in the parking lot,” ETSU quarterbacks coach Tyler Dell said in a text message to Clay Travis from OutKick. “…No hotels with capacity or electricity and no food nearby. We had no cell service all day and it’s still down throughout the area.”

The team’s head coach, Tre Lamb, said the team was finally able to get out of the “flood trap” after 14 hours.

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The East Tennessee State University football team was stranded for 14 hours in flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. (Tre Lamb/@CoachTreLamb9)

“It became very scary for a few hours on a low plain, we had to find high ground. “Thank you to our bus drivers, athletic trainers, staff and officers who kept everyone calm,” he wrote in a post on X.

Lamb said a random stranger drove the buses to a shelter and later told them the highway was open. He said they had no access to any information.

“We have yet to speak with families or loved ones, but we are on the move and ready to play @Citadel1842 whenever they choose,” Lamb wrote. “Prayers for all those affected. What a terrible storm we saw firsthand. Lots of stranded families.”

Hurricane Helene has already resulted in the postponement or cancellation of more than one other college football game this weekend. The storm was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.

Fox Weather meteorologist rescues woman from car during live footage during Hurricane Helene flooding

East Tennessee State University had to sleep on its buses overnight because the highway was flooded. (Tre Lamb/@CoachTreLamb9)

Furman University postponed its matchup against Samford, while Appalachian State canceled its scheduled game against Liberty, indicating the program had no intention of postponing the game.

Floods have been one of the greatest destructive forces the hurricane, It began along the Florida coast long before Hurricane Helene made landfall and reported rapidly rising waters as far away as Fort Myers on the state’s Gulf Coast. FOX Weather’s Ian Oliver said the high tide quickly inundated the streets around St. Pete Beach Thursday evening and the high tide was still several hours away.

The hurricane made landfall Florida’s Big Bend region, after becoming a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 miles per hour. The massive hurricane unleashed a potentially “unsurvivable” height of 20 feet storm surge, catastrophic hurricane-force winds and flooding.

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FILE – Residents fill sandbags at Helen Howarth Park ahead of the possible arrival of Hurricane Helene on September 25, 2024 in Pinellas Park, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee issued a rare extreme wind warning for several counties in the Big Bend ahead of the eyewall approach.

The storm killed at least 40 people and caused an estimated $15 billion to $26 billion in property damage.

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