Major Makeda Tiye Young, an Integral Leader During Hurricane Helene
“All 1,700 missions had to go through me for final approval”
January 15, 2025
By Jennifer Walker
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Major Makeda Tiye Young, PA-C, arrived at the North Carolina Western Branch Emergency Management Headquarters in Conover, North Carolina. There, she took command of relief efforts in response to Hurricane Helene, which was expected to cause catastrophic damage in the state. When the hurricane hit on that Friday, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm (from its Category 4 designation when it hit Florida twelve hours earlier). But it still brought heavy winds and record-breaking rainfall that caused power outages, water shortages, and blocked roads—all of which left about 20,000 people without any outlets to seek help.
“No phones or satellites were available. There was no cell service,” said Young, who served during two natural disasters prior to Helene as an officer in the North Carolina Army National Guard. “There were nine counties in the north and west part of North Carolina who lost access to the world.”
After a few days, soldiers were able to travel to these communities with necessary resources and support. Over the next two months, Young, her fellow officers at the emergency management center, and 1,500 Army and Air National Guardsmen completed 1,700 missions and 309 rescues; cleared 575 roads; and distributed 200,000 meals, more than 853,000 commodities (including diapers, formula, and medical supplies) and 4,000,000 bottles of water across twenty-two counties.
The experience was pivotal for Young, who graduated from the PA program at Wake Forest University in 2024. Before Helene, she planned to take care of soldiers as a physician associate within the military—but that would lower her rank to Captain and prevent her from taking on the same leadership assignments with the National Guard. Now, she can continue to be an officer with the National Guard while practicing as a PA outside of the military. “I can make an impact in the medical community and the Army,” said Young, who will start her first role as a PA in acute care surgery in February 2025. “They just don’t have to be together.”
Realizing a Childhood Goal
Shortly after September 11, 2001, Young, a seventh grader at the time, was struck by the “camaraderie of the nation” after the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Then one day, she walked past JROTC cadets running drills and decided, in that moment, that she would join the military.
As an undergraduate student, Young completed the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, then went on active duty in 2011. She spent four years as a chemical officer in Baumholder and Kaiserslautern, Germany, which included a five-month deployment to Gaziantep, Turkey. There, Young and her unit were responsible for intercepting missiles that came across the border from Syria. Young also spent a couple of years at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) in North Carolina as a human resources officer before transitioning to the Army National Guard in 2017.
It was during her service that Young was exposed to the PA profession—and she planned to enroll in the military PA program in 2014. But deployments and a cervical cancer diagnosis delayed her from applying to a program until 2021. Her upcoming position in the gynecologic oncology department will be within the same institution where she was treated for cervical cancer. “I’ll be working with the people who saved my life,” she said.
Meanwhile, Young will likely achieve a significant milestone in her career and become a Lieutenant Colonel within the next two years. “There are only a handful of female African American officers in the North Carolina Army National Guard, and there currently aren’t any African American female Lieutenant Colonels in my Brigade,” she said. “To have the opportunity would be incredible.” In this role, Young will also continue to receive leadership assignments with the National Guard as needed, as she did during Hurricane Helene.
Leading Relief Efforts During Hurricane Helene
Within 24 hours of Young’s arrival at the emergency management center, the power went out. It took several hours, but the power and online access were restored with the help of generators and a satellite network called Starlink.
By then, the storm had already torn through local communities. Young, who was initially the Command & Control Officer for the mission, fielded calls from the public begging for help. Some were severely dehydrated or out of medications. Some couldn’t find their children. Some were even dying (104 people were killed by Helene in North Carolina). But at the time, soldiers couldn’t reach communities in the western mountain areas of the state. The roads were either completely gone from landslides, blocked by trees, or under water.
Young tried sending soldiers to these communities by helicopter, but fog obstructed the crew’s visibility and prevented them from landing. For nearly four days, while they waited for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to arrive, soldiers weren’t able to access people in need.
“I’ve seen difficult things in the Army, but this was probably the hardest thing,” Young said. “Because there was nothing at the time that we could do.”
In the meantime, Young sent soldiers to escort and conduct Search & Rescue on the French Broad River in Asheville, which rose up to 20 feet deep during the hurricane. Teams searched the water for survivors, and, if needed, used lines to belay them to safety. Once the ATVs arrived, teams were able to reach communities by land, stopping to cut apart trees and restore access to the roads.
After three days, Young and her five-person team realized they needed more help due to the severity of the storm. Thirty-four National Guardsmen from aviation, logistics, and personnel, as well as a mechanic, joined their crew. Young and her team also received a National Guard Colonel (who is also Young’s Brigade Commander) to take command.
Young then became the Operations Officer who led the distribution of resources for Western Branch. “All 1,700 missions that were moving had to go through me for final approval,” said Young, who worked 16-hour days for three weeks.
With her PA background, Young also managed medical operations. Most medics were only available at select base sites, but soldiers in the field still had injuries—concussions, cuts and wounds, slammed fingers. Young made assessments via FaceTime and determined if soldiers needed to be seen by a medical professional.
In late October, Young—who was the last officer to leave the mission—briefed President Joe Biden on the National Guard’s work in response to Helene. In recognition for her work, she was awarded the North Carolina Army Commendation Medal from Brigadier General Charles Morrison.
Now, as Young prepares to be both an officer and a PA, she will be looking for leadership opportunities within both institutions. “I don’t have the ability to sit back and see what happens. I have to be there to make sure it does happen,” Young said. “This makes me feel like I have a significant purpose to serve people in a leadership capacity, where I make the biggest impact.”
Jennifer Walker is a freelance writer in Baltimore, MD. Contact Jennifer at [email protected].
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