ALEXANDRIA, VA — Mercer Transportation driver Michael Doresy has been named a TCA Highway Angel for his heroic actions in the rescue of 11 flood victims
The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) honored Dorsey, who lives in Porter, Texas, as a TCA Highway Angel for using his trailer to attempt to keep flood victims afloat and alive in an incredible story of selflessness and bravery.
According to a TCA press release, on Sept. 26 at 10:00 a.m. in Erwin, TN, Dorsey was loading his flatbed semi truck with piping for a company called Dura-Line in an industrial park. He was informed that flood waters were coming. The town of Erwin was hit by flooding that devastated the region after Hurricane Helene made landfall, unleashing historic levels of rain.
The industrial park is just a few hundred feet from the Nolichucky River, which swelled with a rush of water comparable to nearly twice what cascades over Niagara Falls, according to USA Today. As Dorsey was finishing loading up his flatbed semi truck, water was flowing and 10 people from a neighboring business asked if they could climb atop his truck to find refuge from the flood.
“I said sure,” said Dorsey. “So I let everybody get on my trailer.”
Dorsey also offered shelter to one frightened woman he called ‘Miss Bertha’, by allowing her to sit in his truck.
“She sat in the cab with me and like 15 or 20 minutes later, we were overrun by water,” Dorsey said. “It flipped my truck—I ended up having to lift her out of my truck.”
Dorsey and another man helped put Miss Bertha on the trailer, as the water rose quickly.
The waters were so strong that they separated the trailer from the truck and carried the 12 terrified hangers-on downstream. At one point, the truck capsized, and Dorsey and the others floated in the water hanging onto the
materials that had previously been strapped to the truck.
“Something hit me in the head and knocked me out,” Dorsey said. “When I fell in the water, I guess it was so cold that it brought me back too.”
Dorsey and others rode the current until they were able to grab onto a bush in the flood and hang on. Eventually they were rescued by emergency personnel. Dorsey said of the 12 people who sought refuge on the truck, 6 survived. Miss Bertha’s body has not been found, he said.
“The most terrifying part was just watching the water come, rise as we were just sitting, not knowing what to expect,” Dorsey said.
A former Marine, Dorsey lost everything, and he is dealing with his insurance company now. He also struggles with pain in his head, neck and numbness in his legs and feet.
“I can’t hardly sleep because I keep thinking about Miss Bertha and all of the people that died,” Dorsey said. “If I wouldn’t have been there, those people that survived wouldn’t have made it—it would have been impossible. God had me there for a reason.”
Since the TCA Highway Angel program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,400 professional truck drivers have been recognized as TCA Highway Angels for exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage displayed while on the job.
“Thanks to the program’s presenting sponsor, EpicVue, and supporting sponsors, DriverFacts and Northland Insurance, TCA is able to showcase outstanding drivers like Mr. Dorsey,” the TCA said in the release.
The TCA Highway Angels website can be accessed at https://www.truckload.org/highway-angel/.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
