ABINGDON, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – It was Virginia State Police helicopters that rescued most of the people off the roof of the Erwin, TN hospital where 54 people were trapped by quickly rising flood waters during Helene flooding Friday. Virginia State Police’s Matt Demlein said Tennessee’s National Guard ran into problems not being able to get their helicopters there because of weather. Demlein says VSP happened to have a window out of Abingdon, and also had availability. So, Virginia State Police was able to take those two medflight choppers to the Unicol hospital with their pilots flying them, and Ballad Health medical personnel coming along, where able to take 40 of the 54 trapped on the roof. Demlein said it was “a several hour operation”, and complicated by the fact the roof was not strong enough to land the choppers on it. The pilots hovered their aircraft just off the roof surfaced as staff and patients were walked on.