HICKMAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – Campers saw total devastation at the Piney River Resort in Bon Aqua Saturday following severe flooding.
New campers, Jennifer & Jason Johnston, spoke with News 2 about their experience. The couple came up from Texas and are heading to South Carolina.
“We just picked up our camper on Thursday. We never had been camping in an RV or pulled an RV ever. This seemed like a nice area, Piney River Resort,” explained Jennifer.
Jennifer said they were originally in the lower part of the campsite but they couldn’t get the camper unhooked. The campground staff then moved them up to higher ground, shortly before the rain started.
“Five minutes after you got the warning, that’s when the flooding hit. The lower section of the campground, it just started washing all the vehicles and campgrounds away. The cool thing about the RV community and this site, everyone pulled together to help everyone out. Everyone was accounted for who is supposed to be here which is awesome,” said Jason.
The Johnston’s told News 2 they even took in a family themselves.
“This family who was closest to the river here at the campsite, they luckily got out, there was six kids, two adults and three dogs. Their camper got washed away, and they were sitting with flooded vehicles and didn’t have anywhere to go. Jason and I looked at each other and said there’s no question, come in our camper, our house is your house,” explained Jennifer.
Jennifer told News 2 they had no electricity and ran out of water. She made the kids some food and once there was a bit of leeway when the water receded, the family was able to head back home.
“It was crazy for a while, we didn’t know if we were going to get a break or not,” said Jennifer.
Jason told News 2 the couple was able to leave briefly to drop his daughters off at home and gather supplies. He said most people left the campground.
“Everybody pretty much remained calm. There was no panicking everyone just did what hey had to do to keep everyone safe,” Jason explained.
Jennifer said they never expected to experience this during their first RV trip.
“We definitely got quick lessons on how to be campers in less than 24 hours,” Jennifer said.
They told News 2 the campground staff did an excellent job in helping people.
“They have come through this poor man that is the campground host he was running ragged. He was one of the ones when we first got here. He stopped what he was doing and helped us for two hours. He said you know, lets move you to higher ground. It’s amazing how people come together its nice to see that right now in the world,” said Jennifer.
The couple encourages everyone who is able, to help those in need right now. Three people were helicoptered out from the scene.