11 Family Members Tragically Killed by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina
One family is dealing with unimaginable loss in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
In Fairview, N.C., a Sept. 27 landslide that was “triggered without warning by unprecedented rains” from the violent storm, killed 11 members of Jesse Craig’s family, according to a GoFundMe titled “Support the Craig Family After Tragic Loss.”
"My mother and father, my aunt and uncle, my great aunt and uncle,” Jesse told local news affiliate ABC11. “I've lost cousins, second cousins, things like that, but 11 people overall from this mudslide."
In addition to the devastating loss, the city of Fairview—which is lovingly referred to as “Craigtown” due to the family’s stamp on the community over eight decades—experienced intense destruction.
"It's unrecognizable now,” Jesse continued, “but this is where I was born and raised."
Jesse’s wife MeKenzie Craig is similarly reeling from Hurricane Helene, which has killed at least 223 people, per NBC News.
"We'll never make sense of it,” she shared with ABC11. “It's our community and our town. I don't know that it'll ever be the same. It's been that life-altering a situation. I haven't been able to process it yet. It's still it's not new because it feels like it's been forever. I don't even know what day it is."
Bryan Craig—another family member from Craigtown who said the family had recently celebrated a wedding—also spoke on the tragedy.
"It's been a tough week and a half," Bryan told ABC13. "It's devastating. You come walking out of this debris with a fan from the wedding. How does that make it? We're going to have some really great pictures from that wedding and pictures of people who are no longer with us."
While the family attempts to recover, MeKenzie emphasized the hope that their small community won’t be left behind.
“We don't want people to forget months down the road,” she continued to ABC11. “This isn't just a week or two fix. We have to be in it for the long haul. This is going to take years of work to repair to have it recognizable again."
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