Man lends ‘Sealegs’ to rescue teams in flooded areas

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A man who owns boats with wheels called Sealegs is putting them to good use in areas hit hard by flooding in our community.

From land to sea or straight onto the trailer, Sealegs can do it in just seconds. That capability made William Mayhew want to lend his Sealegs to swift water rescue crews around the state after Hurricane Matthew.

“Having a boat like this available to me, I just felt like it was the right thing to do to try to help them,” Mayhew said.

His first stop was Currie where the bridges on NC 210 were beginning to flood.

“They had situations where they were going to have to drive across road and then water and road again,” Mayhew said. “So they would essentially have to carry their traditional boats.”

It only took a few minutes, before Mayhew was cleared and he took off with the Coast Guard.

“It was just a neighborhood that hadn’t really been evacuated yet or people were staying behind, just went back there and helped and assisted where we could,” Mayhew said.

While helping in Pender County, fuel issues caused him to swap out his boats. Mayhew said swift water rescue teams then sent him to Lumberton over the weekend on his other Sealegs.

“Some of the things you see are just unbelievable,” Mayhew said.

Mayhew said it was complete devastation.

“I mean you’re driving down a four lane road and then you just see a refrigerator in the middle of the road,” Mayhew said.

He said other things floating in the water were alive.

“Poisonous snakes and huge red ant piles,” Mayhew said.

The final stop was Fair Bluff. He said it was a similar devastating scene.

“Houses completely underwater, you know just people’s belongings floating through there,” Mayhew said.

Mayhew said it was a hard couple of days on the Sealegs.

“It was the most frustrating, and memorable,” Mayhew said.

At the end of the day though, Mayhew said it was all worth it.

“It was a great experience all around to kind of witness first hand,” Mayhew said. “It’s humbling to see how many lives have kind of been destroyed by this and still not be that affected by it.”

Mayhew said the owner of the Sealegs company also sent boats down to Florida to help that area affected by Hurricane Matthew.