Heartbreaking final photos have been released of grandparents waiting on the roof of their North Carolina home for rescue amidst heavy flooding after Hurricane Helen.
Jessica Dry Turner was pleading for someone to help her after her family was stranded on the roof of their Asheville home and “watched 18-wheelers and cars drifting by” as they waited for help. she wrote on Facebook as storms hit the area on Friday.
She posted a photo taken by her sister Megan Dry. They were trapped with their “70-year-old parents'' and their nephew Mika, 7 years old.
Jessica Dry Turner / Facebook
Heart-wrenching photos showed the couple huddled together with their mother wrapped in coats and blankets as floodwaters were just steps from the base of their roof.
“They called 911, but they are not the only ones in need of rescue. This is definitely a moment when faith is all you have,” Turner wrote Friday.
Sadly, in a follow-up message posted on Saturday, Ms Turner revealed that the roof collapsed and she drowned, with her parents and grandson still waiting to be rescued.
“My parents and nephew drowned before the roof collapsed,” Turner wrote.
Jessica Dry Turner / Facebook
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Her sister Megan Dry was “pinched” by something when the roof collapsed and was “rescued an hour later.”
“Words cannot convey the sadness, heartbreak, and devastation my sisters and I are experiencing, nor can I imagine the pain before our eyes,” she wrote.
“Please lift my sister up in prayer after losing her son, and that my other sister and I can work together to somehow comfort her and come together to get through this moment.”
@stormi_0817/TikTok
@stormi_0817/TikTok
Turner said she drove around Asheville overnight to be with her other sister, Heather, and her sister, adding that she ignored warnings that “travel is prohibited in Western North Carolina.”
“If we had listened and not done anything to get there, Meghan would still be in the loneliest place she's ever been in,” she wrote.
Then on Monday, Turner posted another heartbreaking update, saying her 7-year-old nephew's body was found “about a quarter of a mile away” from where his sister Megan was rescued. .
“It was a heartbreaking moment and it's still a heartbreaking moment. It's the first time I've heard it. He was such a perfect boy. He wanted to be a superhero and now he is,” she said. wrote.
“If his and my parents’ deaths led many to Christ, then their deaths were worthwhile. I praise you. The last thing Micah cried out before he was taken away was, “Jesus!” please help me! '”
a gofundme The page was started to help Megan, who lost her son.
At least 133 people have died nationwide after Hurricane Helen made landfall late Thursday night across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.
But authorities expect the death toll to rise further once rescuers reach the isolated town and communications are restored.
The death toll from devastating flooding in the Asheville area of western North Carolina more than tripled on Monday to at least 40 people.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper: “There are a lot of people hurting'' told MSNBC on Monday night.
“When you don't have power, when you don't have cell phone service, when you don't have water, this is a devastating situation for you.”
He added: “Parts of our community have completely disappeared.”
Cooper said the state is coordinating 92 search and rescue teams from 20 states and the U.S. government, with most operations being sent to western North Carolina.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday that at least 25 people have died in his state, and at least 29 deaths have been reported in South Carolina.
with post wire
