Meeting with the "hurricane cowboy" who saves animals following Florence

Mckann – who got his nickname for help in Texas after hurricane Harvey last year – and his long-time friend, Travis Holstein, went to Burgaw, NC, to join help.

"We're just doing what we can do," Mckann told CNN.

Rather than wasting their time meeting other volunteers, men have adopted a traditional cowboy approach in their relief work, he said.

"As cowboys, we just said that we are going to stick together and say," You get a rope, I'll do it and get along well, "he said.

In Burgaw, a veterinarian whose truck had been engulfed in the floods asked for help, so the men took Mckann's horse trailer and responded to the call.

"The vet had sank his truck in high water," he said. "(Then) they checked on her, we tied two donkeys.

"We brought them back safely," he said. "In fact, they shot us for a while."

& # 39; C & rsquo; is it! That's the Cowboy Hurricane!

Mckann has been around animals all his life and "cowboying" since his childhood, he told CNN. At the age of 5, he started riding horses at auction and then at 14, racehorses. At the age of 17, he had gone to broncos and bulls.

But it was not until Hurricane Harvey that he earned his nickname.

"I bought a new truck and listened to CNN on Sirius radio," said the former rider. "They were talking about floods and people over there (in the Houston area). I had this new truck and trailer … so that's when I said, "Well, I guess I'll go there." "

With the caravan full of supplies offered by friends and other members of the community, Mckann packed his bags and traveled 1,200 miles to southeastern Texas, where he said he helped to save cows, horses and chickens.

He even went home to Virginia, picked up more supplies and brought them back.

"We put about 25,000 miles (the new truck)," he said, between the two trips and driving around the Lone Star State.

Mckann was loading his caravan during a trip back to Virginia when he heard a woman tell a volunteer that she wanted to donate to "Hurricane Cowboy".

"You know, the cowboy who loads his truck and drops it himself," recalls Mckann.

It was then that she turned around and saw Mckann standing up. "It's him!" she said, according to Mckann. "It's the Cowboy Hurricane!"

The nickname is stuck.

On the road once again

After helping the vet in Burgaw, Mckann and cowboy colleagues wanted to go to the nearby city in need. They quickly realized that the animals of Conway, South Carolina, were in trouble.

With rivers converging on the inner city near Myrtle Beach and information that conditions could get worse, Hurricane Cowboy and his team wanted to focus their efforts there.

"We took a few minutes, looked at a map, figured out where the water would be high," he said.

Once in Conway, they went straight to work after a man told them that three of his horses were stuck. He was afraid that they would drown, said Mckann. It was the perfect opportunity for rescuers to put their skills to the test.

They had to walk 4 miles, said Mckann, mainly in flood waters. But they managed to put the three horses safe.

A local newspaper published a story about them, and locals began to communicate.

An elderly couple called to say that they had to leave their animals, said Mckann. He and his friends He made a long journey of several kilometers to the couple's house by boat, tractor, and then on foot – at one point he walked in the water up to the chest of Mckann, he said.

The men found three horses, one of which was intact, said Mckann. But he managed to put things under control, and they saved all three, he said.

On Friday night, Mckann returned to Virginia to collect more donations from Holstein. He promises to return to the area ravaged by floods – either in Conway or Lumberton, North Carolina – deposit the provisions as soon as they can come back.

He said that he was only too happy to lend a hand to "those little towns that nobody helps."

"People forget about them," he said.

"We are just cowboys doing our job here."