A final photo has emerged of North Carolina grandparents on the roof of their home, surrounded by floodwaters, minutes before they drowned due to Hurricane Helene.
Jessica Drye Turner’s family members were waiting to be rescued from the roof of their Asheville home as they watched “18-wheelers and cars floating by,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Friday (September 27).
The house ultimately collapsed before they could be rescued, and Jessica’s parents, who were in their seventies, along with her 7-year-old nephew Micah, drowned in the floodwaters.
“They’ve called 911, but they aren’t the only ones needing rescue. This is definitely a moment when faith is all you have,” Jessica wrote on Friday.
Jessica Drye Turner shared a photo her sister took just before their parents and Jessica’s 7-year-old nephew were swept away by floodwaters in North Carolina
Image credits: ABC News
The photo shows the couple staring at the exasperating landscape, surrounded by blankets. The floodwaters are only centimeters away from the base of the roof.
It was taken by her sister, Megan, who was trapped with their parents and Micah but was rescued after being taken by the current until she was lodged between two trailers.
Megan stayed between the trailers for three hours until someone finally saw her.
“Those 3 hours were a story on their own, with a voice talking to her the entire time. She fought, and fought and fought until rescued,” Jessica wrote.
“Once that happened, that’s when she completely crumbled. We believe Micah, mama and daddy waited until Megan was rescued before being received into the hands of Christ.”
Hurricane Helene caused 40 fatalities after hitting the county that includes Asheville, North Carolina, including Jessica’s family
She continued: “The waters have receded and there is nothing left standing except my dad’s law firm sign. And we’ve chuckled at that bc he was so proud of that sign.
“They are long gone, and if they could, they’d tell us not to be sad but to be filled with joy. And I’m at peace knowing this.
“It will be a long road for Megan. One in which will also be hard for heather and me but we are just taking one day at a time.”
Micah’s body was found a quarter of a mile (400 meters) away from where they rescued Megan, the grieving woman said on Monday (September 30).
In the post, Jessica described the 7-year-old as “a perfect little boy,” adding, “He wanted to be a superhero. And now he is.”
Jessica and her other sister, Heather Kephart, started a GoFundMe page to help Megan after the loss of her son.
“For Megan Drye, our miracle, who has lived a mother’s worst nightmare. She has survived the unimaginable and lost absolutely everything,” the page description reads.
“The support of others will carry her and encourage her to keep taking one breath, one step, and one day at a time.
“We are living in the hope and peace that they are with Jesus and we will see our parents and Micah again one day.
“We have experienced miracle after miracle in her surviving the unimaginable nightmare of losing her parents and 7yo son right before her eyes, her being rescued after 3 hours in the water, to the precious doctors and nurses who took such good care of her as she first faced her new reality, to us being able to get to her even though WNC was completely shut down, to finally being together to begin healing.”
Jessica lost her parents, who were in their seventies, and her seven-year-old nephew, Micah, whom she described as a “perfect little boy”
Helene’s devastation caused fatalities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia after making landfall late Thursday (September 26).
At least 133 deaths have been attributed to the hurricane that inflicted damage from Florida’s Gulf Coast, the Associated Press reported.
Forty of those fatalities occurred in the county that includes Asheville, where Jessica’s parents and nephew drowned.
White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested as many as 600 people hadn’t been accounted for as of Monday (September 30) afternoon, saying some might be dead.
Jessica started a GoFundMe page to help Micah’s mother, her sister Megan, who “survived the unimaginable and lost absolutely everything”
Government officials and aid groups worked to deliver supplies by air, truck and even mule to Asheville and its surrounding mountain town, according to the AP.
“This has been an unprecedented storm that has hit western North Carolina,” said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper after taking an aerial tour of the Asheville area.
“It’s requiring an unprecedented response.”
Gov. Cooper said the state is coordinating 92 search and rescue teams from 20 states and the federal government, with most efforts being sent to the western part of North Carolina.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Monday that shelters were housing more than 1,000 people.
Several main routes in the North Carolina city, which has a population of nearly 94,500, were washed away or blocked by mudslides, and the city’s water system was severely damaged.
President Joe Biden is expected to travel to North Carolina next Wednesday (October 2) to meet with officials and take an aerial tour of Asheville.
People sent their condolences to the Asheville family and expressed frustration over the lack of a swift response from rescuers
