‘Unbelievable’: 11 family members killed by Helene flooding in North Carolina

BUNCOMBE CO., N.C. (WJZY) – “I don’t know how it kept standing,” said Bryan Craig, pointing to what you might call the Craig family tree in North Carolina's Garren Creek Community.

“I can walk to that oak tree and get a sense of where everything was. Because everything where I grew up is gone,” he told Nexstar's WJZY.

The area known as Craigtown in Buncombe County is largely unrecognizable in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Thirteen people were killed in the flooding and landslide that resulted, including 11 members of the Craig family. The Craigs have owned the stretch of land near the Garren Creek Fire Volunteer Department station for 80 years. 

The storm leveled the peaceful mountain neighborhood, leaving behind mangled cars and a few traces of where houses used to be.

“It’s never going to be the same,” said Craig.

“Well, right here alone there were one, two, three, four, five, six [houses] right here,” he said, giving the lay of the land.

Craig’s mother and father, Lois and Jimmy Souther, were among those killed.

His uncle Ronnie Craig and aunt Sandy Craig were also casualties of the catastrophic storm, as well as family members Freddie and Terri Pack and Angie Craig.

“I don’t know ... I still can’t wrap my mind around it either. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to,” Craig said.

Two cousins, Brandon Ruppe and Tony Garrison, died while trying to rescue people when the mudslide hit.

Just down the road, Brad Wright and his sisters were mourning the passing of their parents, Dan and Evelyn Wright. Bryan Craig's grandmother was Dan Wright's sister.

“It’s still unbelievable,” Wright said while walking with his siblings. “To lose that many family members in one go is just tragic.”

Standing on the barren site where his childhood home once sat, he pointed and said, “What’s left of my mom and dad’s place right here.”

The Wrights died less than a week shy of their 65th anniversary. Their son said they were as kind as could be.

“If you knew my dad, you probably ate one of his biscuits,” Wright said. “And if you knew my mom, she just loved on you the best she could, and you never got away from them without a hug.”

The slide cascaded down a mountain for miles before crashing through Craigtown.

“It was an incredible force of nature; nobody had seen anything like it,” said Wright. “I’m going to believe that it happened so fast that [my parents] didn’t have a moment to process any fear at all.”

Still in disbelief as he viewed the site, he added, “This is all that’s left, which really isn’t anything.”

“We lost a lot of great men and women,” Craig summed up.

Just days before the deluge, Bryan Craig's parents attended his oldest daughter’s wedding.

The couple watched their son walk their granddaughter, Amaron, down the aisle and, as always, they were so proud of him and his children.

“I think so, that’s what everybody always says that they were so proud of me,” said Craig. A defensive coordinator for the AC Reynolds High School football team, Craig recalled that his folks were always there on Friday nights to cheer on his team.

Now, the photos of the family together on that beautiful wedding day have even more relevance.

“We’re blessed that we’re going to have those memories from that day as well as some good pictures,” he said.

That oak tree off in the distance marks the spot where the family had deep roots. For those who grew up in Craigtown, it’s hard to accept that after four generations, most everything was wiped out.    

“It’s gone. I mean there’s absolutely nothing,” said Craig.

“Some of the best people you’ll ever meet in your life,” Wright said of his fallen family members. “More willing than anyone you may ever know that would be willing to help take their shirt of their back, do anything they could.”

A GoFundMe page to benefit the Craig family has raised over $250,000. In addition, the Garren Creek Fire Department is encouraging the public to donate money through Venmo at @ChestnutHill-BaptistChurch (confirmation code: 1372).