Dad traveled miles on foot through Hurricane Helene's damage to walk daughter down aisle

The catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene's forceful winds and heavy rainfall was not enough to deter a father from traveling hours, including on foot, from South Carolina to Tennessee to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding.

David Jones did the impossible when he managed to make it to his daughter's wedding on time Saturday morning. What would have been a two-hour drive from Boiling Springs, South Carolina to Johnson City, Tennessee, turned into an almost 27-mile overnight journey, the 64-year-old father told USA TODAY on Monday.

"I think every dad would do everything they could to get to their daughter's wedding," Jones said. "Like the scripture says, 'With God, anything is possible.' I think this was a prime example of that."

The Southeast is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene, including the millions without power, thousands whose homes are flooded and families of the more than 100 people who have been confirmed dead.

At one point during Jones' travels, he said the conditions looked like a "Hollywood disaster movie times 10."

Here is how Jones weathered the aftermath of the devastating hurricane to join his daughter on her special day.

Jones did not know the 'extent of the devastation' before leaving Boiling Springs

Before Hurricane Helene made landfall, Jones was in the process of moving from Johnson City to Boiling Springs with his wife and her mother. The original plan was for them to drive to Johnson City on Friday so he could walk his daughter down the aisle by 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Out of caution, Jones decided to get a generator up and running in his Boiling Springs home and head out on his own.

"I had no cell phone service, no internet or anything like that so I had no idea the extent of the devastation that laid ahead," Jones said, adding how he has lived in Tennessee for 42 years and did not expect the degree of destruction caused by the storm.

Once Jones began driving out of South Carolina, he kept getting diverted by hours of traffic and detours.

"At one point, it took me three hours to go 10 miles," he said.

Bridge to Johnson City 'completely washed out'

Thanks to the road crews in Western Carolina clearing Interstate 26 so quickly, Jones was able to continue on the highway until he got to the state line and into Tennessee. Once there, state authorities had the exit he needed to go off on blocked off because the bridge up ahead was "completely washed out," Jones recalled a trooper telling him at 2 a.m. on Saturday.

The only other way into Johnson City was a bridge in Erwin, Tennessee, which troopers were not letting anyone cross because they were not certain of its stability, Jones said.

Jones decided to get as close to Johnson City as he could so if worst came to worst then he could be FaceTimed into the wedding and walk his daughter down the aisle virtually. To do this, he left behind his Ford Explorer at the exit on Interstate 26 and began traveling on foot toward the bridge that troopers said was washed out.

"I grabbed my backpack, threw in my shaving kit and a couple days of socks and underwear, grabbed my windbreaker and off I went," Jones said.

Jones made it to Johnson City thanks to a reflector, an old coworker

About three to four miles into his walk, Jones began encountering washed-out roads with debris everywhere, including from farms, fences and huge trees, he said.

Jones would eventually come across a bulldozer that was clearing a debris field, and when he told the operator about his plan, he recalled the man looking at him like he was "nuts."

Despite the debris and "quicksand-like" mud ahead of Jones, he got through the wreckage and back on the Interstate. The only issue is that about half a mile down the highway, the bridge he needed to go on was "completely wiped out," just as the troopers had said back at the exit.

Jones' only other option was in Erwin, so he headed to that bridge and managed to cross because the troopers in charge of blocking it weren't there at the time, he said. Once over the bridge, Jones said a trooper gave him a ride to Erwin's town hall, and from there he began traveling on foot again.

While walking along the dark back country roads in east Tennessee, Jones said a car almost hit him. This prompted him to grab a red reflector so drivers could see him. With the reflector in hand, he would go eight miles further down the road until a former coworker from 20 years ago stopped and gave him a ride the rest of the way.

In total, Jones traveled 26.82 miles, which included 10 by car and about 17 by foot.

'A full circle moment'

When Jones made it to his home in Johnson City, he was welcomed to darkness and cold water due to his heat and lights not working. Nonetheless, he still was able to take a cold shower, get a backup suit and make it to Elizabeth's wedding on time.

Jones said he decided not to tell his daughter about his adventure until after the wedding so she would not have thoughts about "her dad being lost in the wilderness" on her day.

It was not until Jones' reception speech, in which he brought out the red reflector he grabbed during his journey, that his daughter truly understood what he did to make it that day.

"I presented (the reflector) to them and said, 'I want this to be a remembrance for you, and whenever you see it, to remember that you need to protect each other in life, especially in your darkest moments as this reflector did for me. That's when you need it the most,'" Jones recalled.

The entire experience was a "full circle moment" that ended with Jones, his daughter and their family hugging and shedding tears, he said.

Jones recalled his daughter telling him, "If my father could love me this much, imagine how much our Father in Heaven loves us."