10/08/2026
🌊 REMEMBERING HURRICANE MATTHEW — OCTOBER 2016 | 10 YEARS OF LESSONS, SERVICE, AND PREPARATION 🌊
As we approach the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Matthew, Lumberton Rescue and EMS reflects on an event that tested our community, challenged our responders, and forever changed the way we prepare for hurricanes and flooding emergencies.
For Lumberton Rescue and EMS, the story actually began two years before Hurricane Matthew ever reached our community.
In 2014, our department took the initiative to equip our agency and train our members in swift water rescue. With the tremendous support of our community, we invested in specialized rescue suits, equipment, and boats to better prepare ourselves for the dangers of hurricanes and flooding. We understood that if our community ever faced this type of disaster, we needed to be ready to answer the call.
In October 2016, that preparation was put to the ultimate test.
Hurricane Matthew stalled over our region, dumping enormous amounts of rain in a very short period of time. Rivers and waterways rose rapidly, roads disappeared beneath floodwaters, and our community faced a disaster unlike anything we had experienced in modern times.
At that time, Lumberton Rescue and EMS was the only local agency trained and equipped to handle these types of swift water emergencies. Our members immediately began responding to reports of vehicles being swept away by rushing water, with people trapped and desperately needing help.
It quickly became clear that we needed additional manpower, specialized resources, and help from beyond our own community.
We called upon state resources that had been moved from the mountains and staged in Bladen County. Buncombe County and Asheville Fire Department responded, bringing approximately 15 additional trained rescuers and their equipment to join the effort.
As the water continued to rise, major transportation routes, including NC 211, NC 41, US 74, and I-95, were cut off by floodwaters. Lumberton became an island, leaving residents stranded while travelers passing through our area found themselves trapped with nowhere to turn.
Our mission expanded beyond rescuing our own neighbors. We were also working to reach stranded motorists and travelers who suddenly found themselves in the middle of a catastrophic flooding event far from home.
As the situation escalated, state rescuers requested federal assistance. FEMA swift water rescue teams arrived from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, bringing additional trained personnel and specialized resources. The response grew by the hundreds as agencies from across the country came together for one common mission: to save lives.
🤝 A COMMUNITY, A STATE, AND A NATION UNITED IN RESCUE.
Lumberton Rescue and EMS will forever be grateful to every agency, rescuer, and support team that answered the call during Hurricane Matthew. The willingness of these men and women to leave their own communities and come to our aid demonstrated the true meaning of brotherhood, service, and teamwork.
We also recognize the community members whose support made our swift water rescue program possible before the storm ever arrived. Your investment in our training and equipment helped prepare our volunteers for the challenges that lay ahead.
Hurricane Matthew taught us valuable lessons. Those lessons helped strengthen our capabilities and improve our response when we faced our second major hurricane response two years later. In the years that followed, additional swift water rescue teams were established, and the knowledge gained from these events continued to improve preparedness throughout our region.
Preparation matters. Training matters. Equipment matters. And the willingness to answer the call matters.
As we remember October 2016, we honor the courage of our volunteers, the dedication of every responding agency, the generosity of our community, and the lives forever touched by this historic disaster.
Ten years later, we remain proud of the role Lumberton Rescue and EMS played in helping our community survive one of its most challenging moments.
We will never forget Hurricane Matthew. We will never forget those who came to help. And we will never forget why we do what we do.
LUMBERTON RESCUE AND EMS
Trained to Save. Dedicated to Serve.
