A tragic final photo has emerged of grandparents sitting on the roof of their North Carolina home surrounding by raging floodwaters as they waited for rescuers to arrive.
The Drye’s were pictured by their daughter Megan who along with her seven-year-old son, Micah, had clambered to the rooftop of their Asheville home as the house was slowly consumed by the storm waters.Â
The couple in their 70s can be seen dressed in regular clothes, wearing coat and a backpack with a couple of blankets for comfort.Â
‘They are watching 18 wheelers and cars floating by. In addition, part of the house they’re sitting on is in front of them. They’ve called 911 but they aren’t the only ones needing rescue. This is definitely a moment when faith is all you have,’ wrote Megan’s sister Jessica Drye.
A tragic final photo has emerged of grandparents sitting on the roof of their North Carolina home surrounding by raging floodwaters as they waited for rescuers to arrive
Their daughter Meghan took this photo moments before the entire home collapsed killing the couple and their grandson
Seven-year-old Micah was with his grandparents when he drowned. His mother, Megan Drye, was able to survive after she became wedged between something, stopping her drowning
Tragically the pair, along with their grandson drowned after the roof eventually gave way no longer able to withstand the force of the torrent.Â
Somehow Megan managed to survive after she became trapped between something and was able to keep her head above water. She was rescued one hour later and is now recovering in intensive care.Â
Detailing the encounter on Facebook, sister Jessica shared her sadness at what had happened.
‘I cannot convey in words the sorrow, heartbreak and devastation my sisters and I are going through nor imagine the pain before us. Please lift my sister who lost her son up in prayers and my other sister and myself as we come together to somehow comfort her and get through each moment banded together.’Â
A GoFundMe page has been started to help Megan.Â
The destruction and desperation across North Carolina in particular appears to be unimaginable.Â
The destruction and desperation across North Carolina in particular appears to be unimaginable. A part of Asheville is picturedÂ
The North Carolina mountain town of Asheville has faced a massive amount of destruction following Hurricane Helene
Flood damage caused by the storm that hit Asheville, North Carolina can be seen from above
A flattened cargo container sat atop a bridge crossing a river with muddy brown water.
Overturned pontoon boats and splintered wooden docks and tree trunks covered the surface of a picturesque lake tucked between the mountains.
The North Carolina death toll included one horrific story after another of people who were trapped by floodwaters in their homes and vehicles or were killed by falling trees.
A courthouse security officer died after being submerged inside his truck.Â
Rescuers did manage to save dozens, including an infant and two others stuck on the top of a car in Atlanta. More than 50 hospital patients and staff in Tennessee were plucked by helicopter from the hospital rooftop in a daring rescue operation.
Those Western North Carolina residents who survived Helene faced a ‘post-apocalyptic’ landscape on Monday, with hundreds of people still missing and residents struggling amid flooded roads and a lack of basic services.
More than 128 deaths across a half-dozen states have been attributed to the powerful storm that slammed into Florida’s Big Bend region late on Thursday before cutting a destructive path through Georgia and into the Carolinas.
The federal government has declared a major disaster for 25 North Carolina counties, promising aid and reimbursement for local agencies
A thick layer of mud blankets the entire area in Swannanoa, North Carolina
Homes have been torn from foundations, thrown upside-down or split in half in Swannanoa
The once-picturesque town now lies in ruins. Cars can be seen perched in tree limbs along the flooded Swannanoa River
As many as 600 people remain missing, U.S. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said at the White House, though she noted that the numbers could vary as responders reach more locations.
Either way, the death toll is likely to rise, officials said.
Residents in devastated communities found themselves isolated by flooded roads and a lack of running water, power and cell phone service.
In mountainous Buncombe County, which includes the popular tourist destination of Asheville, 35 people have diedÂ
The county was set to begin distributing food and water to residents later in the day.
Some supplies had to be airlifted to the region with most major routes blocked by mudslides and flooding.
‘They’re running out of gas for ATVs that are helping the rescue, they’re also running out of gas for the chainsaws,’ said Colleen Burns, 58, whose house is near Burnsville, in neighboring Yancey County. ‘We desperately need gas.’
The brutal onslaught of Hurricane Helene has left the small mountain town of Swannanoa, North Carolina , in ruins – with locals describing the community as ‘entirely erased’
Volunteers stage water for people in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville
A gas natural gas tank lies with other debris on a train bridge in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville
Carrie Owenby looks at her phone as a neighbor with power dropped an extension cord for neighbors who have no power in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville
Volunteers stage water for citizens in the aftermath of Helene in Asheville
A worker moves debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Asheville
Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville
People wait to get water at Mountain Valley Water in the aftermath of Helene in West Asheville
Flood debris from Hurricane Helene floats by in Rutherford County, North Carolina
Elsewhere in Yancey, the storm snapped century-old trees around the home of Taylor Shelton, 44.Â
It took her husband two days with a chainsaw to cut a passage through the felled trees in their driveway and the nearby road so they could drive themselves and their three children out of the darkened house.
With no phone service, they relied on a neighbor who works as an EMT and had a walkie-talkie to help them determine which back roads out of the mountains were passable.
‘The devastation is unbelievable,’ she said.
They were attempting to drive back home on Monday to pick up their dog and two guinea pigs and leave out food for the cat and the chickens. Their car was loaded with coffee, donuts and diapers for their neighbors.
‘It looks like ‘War of the Worlds.’ Very, very big trees are down everywhere,’ she said. ‘We saw houses that are just washed away.’
She has still not been able to reach her husband’s parents, who live in the nearby town of Burnsville, which was also badly hit.
Lake Lure, around 20 miles southeast of Asheville, was covered with floating debris from homes and businesses washed away by mountain streams that surround the lake, a video posted on X by Charlotte City Councilman Tariq Bokhari showed.
‘It’s hard to describe – never seen anything like this, post-apocalyptic,’ he wrote. ‘It’s so overwhelming. You don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start.’
Some 1.8 million homes and businesses were without power on Monday night, according to Poweroutage.us.
‘The lack of communication is concerning,’ North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Monday in an interview with CNN.Â
Rescue workers from the Pamlico County rescue team are shown working in the aftermath of Helene in the area of Chimney Rock, North Carolina
Rescue workers from the Pamlico County rescue team are seen in Chimney Rock
Many roads were virtually impassable blocked by fallen trees, rocks, mudslides and debrisÂ
‘We know that there are people missing, and we know that there’s going to be significant fatalities at the end of this and our prayers and our hearts go out to these families.’
Cooper, who said he had not heard from his son and daughter in 72 hours, added that local officials and rescue workers were performing door-to-door welfare checks in many communities.
In Buncombe, officials said they are conducting checks of 150 ‘priority’ households that include elderly residents or residents with medical problems.
The National Guard and emergency workers from 19 states have been deployed to help, along with Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel.Â
Cooper said the rugged terrain in the mountains of western North Carolina makes it almost impossible to traverse with landslides and flooding.
People wait to gather water at Mountain Valley Water in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in West Asheville, North Carolina
A path is cut through where fallen trees blocked a major road near Chimney Rock
Employees Linda Bandy, left, and Carissa Sheehan clean up their frame shop damaged by flood water from Hurricane Helene on North Green Street, in Morganton, North Carolina
A sign hangs outside a closed barber shop and bar in Asheville on Monday
‘So we’re depending a lot on air power, helicopters with hoist capacity to get supplies in,’ he said.
President Joe Biden said he would visit North Carolina later this week and may ask Congress to return to Washington for a special session to pass supplemental aid funding.
‘There’s nothing like wondering, ‘Is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father alive?” Biden said at the White House.Â
‘Many more will remain without electricity, water, food and communications, and whose homes and businesses are washed away in an instant. I want them to know we’re not leaving until the job is done.’
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris cut short a campaign trip in Nevada on Monday to take part in briefings in Washington on the hurricane response and will visit the region when doing so won’t impede response efforts, a White House official said.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Monday
Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville
Residents walk along Catawba Avenue while debris is cleared in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Old Fort, North Carolina
A trailer hangs off a bridge in Asheville, North Carolina on SundayÂ
A passerby checks the water depth of a flooded road in Morganton, North Carolina. Torrential rain left many area streets flooded. In addition, traffic lights are broken due to powercuts
Damage and residual flooding from Mill Creek is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on in Old Fort, North Carolina
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to visit a furniture store that was heavily damaged in the storm.
Helene struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on Thursday night as a major Category 4 hurricane, triggering days of driving rain throughout the South and destroying homes that had stood for decades.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on Monday that at least 25 people in his state had died, including a firefighter responding to emergency calls during the storm and a mother and her 1-month-old twins who were killed by a falling tree.
Damage estimates ranged from $15 billion to more than $100 billion, insurers and forecasters said over the weekend.
