A family in North Carolina was reunited with their cat Blanco more than a week after “losing everything” to Hurricane Helene.
The Collins family were stunned to find their cat Blanco alive after he floated off their neighbor’s roof in Burnsville eight days earlier.
Camille Collins said her beloved cat’s journey home was like a ‘Homeward Bound’ movie as she spoke to her Fox & Friends Tuesday.
“This cat had to use all nine of its lives because it came to us as a stray,” Camille said during her interview.
‘He’s just the family pet. He’s the kind of pet that will take you for walks.’
The Collins family was reunited with Blanco eight days after he floated away on a roof during Hurricane Helene
Camille Collins claimed that Blanco was a drifter and that he had used up “all nine of his lives.”
Blanco entered the family’s lives earlier this year after Camille found him in a compost bin last June, according to Facebook after.
All the family members nursed him back to health and then decided to adopt him.
Camille’s mother-in-law, Nan, recalled the incident when Blanco disappeared into the water.
“Blanco climbs onto the distribution line that you see, and he sees them trying to climb the metal roof,” Nan told Fox & Friends.
She added that Blanco ended up “down in the river,” which was actually the ocean, and it was the last time they saw Blanco until he floated back to the family.
The owners have been keeping a close eye on Blanco since their Oct. 6 reunion because they believe he swallowed water and has an eye infection.
Blanco has since been placed on antibiotics.
The family believes Blanco ingested flood water and has an eye infection. Camille also said that Blanco needs antibiotics
Experts estimate the flooding from Helene may have caused more damage than that from Asheville Flood of 1916.
“The flood waters rose well above even 500 year levels, at least ten feet, and everything we own is in ruins behind us,” David Collins, Camille’s husband, told Fox & Friends.
“The neighbors’ houses, which had been there since the 1920s, are gone, and we’ve basically lost just about everything we own.”
Before Helene, the family lived in a converted van, which “washed down the river” along with relatives’ RVs, according to their parents. GoFundMe page.
The Collins also lost their garden, flowers, bees and “all the labors of their love.”
(From left to right) Camile, Nan and David raised over $30,000, which they will use to create a new home
The money from Collins’ GoFundMe page will be used to rebuild and create a new home for the family.
Camille and family friend Sarah Min organized the page on David’s behalf and the goal is to raise at least $50,000.
More than 280 donors have given money to the Collins family and raised more than $30,000.