The devastation left by Hurricane Helene has struck a painful blow to communities across the Southeast, but few stories are as heartbreaking as that of the Craig family in Fairview, North Carolina. The hurricane’s heavy rains triggered catastrophic flooding throughout the region, and for the Craigs, it resulted in an unimaginable tragedy—a deadly mudslide that claimed the lives of 11 family members.
The Craigs have deep roots in Fairview, going back to the 1950s when Jesse Craig’s grandfather first settled in the area, purchasing land that would eventually become known as “Craigtown” by local residents. The family had built a close-knit community, living in neighboring homes that held generations of memories. But all that changed in late September when Hurricane Helene unleashed its fury across the Southeast, bringing unprecedented rainfall and flooding.
The rains caused a mudslide that swept through the Craigs’ properties, wiping out the homes and taking with it the lives of those inside. Jesse Craig spoke about the immense loss, describing the impact on his family. “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,” he shared, grappling with the scope of the tragedy. It’s not just the loss of loved ones but the erasure of a way of life that had defined their family for decades.
This is so tragic and heartbreaking.
The Craig family, who lives in a suburb of Asheville, lost 11 members to a mudslide that happened without warning by unprecedented rains when Helene struck in the early morning hours of Sept. 27. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/xmPfmwSTXz— 🇺🇸 Inga 🇺🇸 (@Inga_C8) October 10, 2024
The heartbreak is palpable for the surviving family members, who are struggling to come to terms with such a sudden and all-encompassing loss. Jesse’s wife, MeKenzie, expressed the difficulty of trying to process the 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,” she said, highlighting the profound disorientation that comes with such grief. “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.”
The impact of Hurricane Helene has been widespread, with over 230 people confirmed dead across the Southeast. In Buncombe County, where Fairview is situated, the death toll alone has reached 72, according to Sheriff Quentin Miller. Emergency crews are still combing through the wreckage, searching for those who remain missing since the storm hit, but the exact number of the missing is still unknown.
In the aftermath, friends and community members have rallied around the surviving Craigs, setting up a GoFundMe to help them with the overwhelming expenses they now face—funeral costs, medical bills, and the massive task of cleaning up and rebuilding. The fundraiser has so far raised $127,748, a testament to the community’s solidarity and support for the family. The organizers, who are close friends of the Craigs, wrote, “We are personal friends of the Craig family and wanted to support them by putting this together to help them with whatever needs they currently have and will have in the coming weeks/months.”
It’s a small ray of light in an otherwise dark time for the family. The tragedy of Craigtown serves as a stark reminder of the human toll of natural disasters and how quickly they can upend lives and communities. For Jesse, MeKenzie, and the remaining members of the Craig family, the road ahead will be long and filled with grief, but they are not alone in their journey. Their story has touched hearts, and people from near and far are rallying to offer their support in any way they can. As Fairview attempts to rebuild and recover, the memory of the lost members of the Craig family will remain a part of the fabric of the town they helped to shape.
