The effects of Hurricane Helene continue to break our hearts, and North Carolina suffered a huge loss. A landslide caused by the hurricane's rains killed 11 members of the same family living in a small North Carolina community. Jesse Craig, a surviving member, lost his father, mother, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
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The tragedy occurred on September 27 in Fairview, a town 12 miles from Asheville. Locals called the community Craigtown as the Craig family lived side by side in multiple houses for decades. Unfortunately, all of these were crushed after the storm caused a landslide, resulting in the 11 Craig family deaths.
"My mother and father, my aunt and uncle, my great aunt and uncle," said Jesse Craig. "I've lost cousins, second cousins, things like that, but 11 people overall from this mudslide." Jesse also reflects on how the mudslide destroyed Craigtown. "It's unrecognizable now, but this is where I was born and raised," said Jesse.
Jesse's wife, MeKenzie, was understandably in shock after the mudslide took the lives of Craig's family. "We'll never make sense of it. You know, it's our community and our town. I don't know that it'll ever be the same," she said. "It's been that life-altering a situation."
Rebuilding Craigtown
Nevertheless, both Jesse and MeKenzie are set on attempting to rebuild Craigtown. "We don't want people to forget months down the road. This isn't just a week or two fix," said MeKenzie to ABC News. Jesse added: "A lot of the house is right here; we found a lot of pieces of the house, clothing, and hats."
Meanwhile, Bryan Craig, another Craig family member, mourns and reflects on the whole situation, describing this time as tough and devastating.
Bryan also mentions how they discovered some pictures and items from a wedding celebrated by the Craig family just one week before the tragedy. "We're going to have some really great pictures from that wedding and pictures of people who are no longer with us," said Bryan.
Friends of the Craig family have set up a GoFundMe campaign to support them with "whatever needs they currently have". "Pillars of the community, the Craig family, suffered an unimaginable tragedy where 11 people in their family lost their lives and many more lost their homes in an area lovingly known as "Craigtown" due to a landslide that was triggered without warning by unprecedented rains," reads the campaign description.
