11 members of same family killed when mudslide wiped out NC neighborhood during Hurricane Helene
FAIRVIEW, N.C. -- One family lost 11 people when Hurricane Helene devastated the community named for them.
All 11 family members living in what is known to locals in Fairview, North Carolina, as "Craigtown," are part of the more than 200 people killed by Helene.
We'll never make sense of it.MeKenzie Craig
"It's unrecognizable now, but this is where I was born and raised," Jesse Craig said to ABC sister station ABC11 as he walked Diane Wilson through the destruction of his hometown.
Jesse and his wife MeKenzie are still grappling with the life-altering nature of this storm.
"We'll never make sense of it. You know, it's our community and our town. I don't -- I don't know that it'll ever be the same," MeKenzie said. "It's been that life-altering a situation."
A mudslide caused by Helene left a path of destruction through Craigtown, erasing several homes and killing everyone who was inside them.
"My mother and father, my aunt and uncle, my great aunt and uncle -- I've lost cousins, second cousins, things like that, but 11 people overall from this mudslide," Jesse said.
The Craigs built eight decades of memories in that town. It began when Jesse's grandfather bought the land in the mid-1900s. Since then generation after generation has been born and raised there. None of them could ever imagine something like this would happen.
"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," MeKenzie said.
The Craigs still want to rebuild. They don't want to let this storm wipe out the legacy they've built and the memories they've made on their land over the last 80 years.
Friends and neighbors are now stepping up to help. They started a GoFundMe that has raised more than $50,000 in two days. That money is earmarked to help pay for funerals, medical expenses, clean up and construction.
"We don't want people to forget months down the road. This is a 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," MeKenzie said.
