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Final Photo Captures Grandparents Trapped On Roof Before Drowning With Their Grandson
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Final Photo Captures Grandparents Trapped On Roof Before Drowning With Their Grandson

Final Photo Captures Grandparents Trapped On Roof Before Drowning With Their GrandsonHeartbreaking Photo Shows Grandparents Perched On Roof Before Drowning With 7YO GrandsonHeartbreaking Photo Shows Grandparents Trapped On Roof Before Drowning With Their GrandsonFinal Photo Captures Grandparents Perched On Roof Before Drowning With 7YO GrandsonHeartbreaking Final Photo Shows Grandparents Trapped On Roof Before Drowning With 7YO GrandsonTragic Final Photo Shows Grandparents Trapped On Roof Before Being Swept Away By Floodwaters“She Lost Everything”: NC Woman Loses 7YO Son And Parents After Hurricane Helene Hits AshevilleWoman Loses 7-Year-Old Son And Parents After Hurricane Helene Hits AshevilleDevastating Photo Of Grandparents Before They Drowned Highlights Impact Of Hurricane HeleneHeartbreaking Photo Shows Grandparents And Grandson Trapped On Roof Before Getting Swept Away In Flood
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A final photo has emerged of North Carolina grandparents on the roof of their home, surrounded by floodwaters, minutes before they drowned due to Hurricane Helene.

Jessica Drye Turner’s family members were waiting to be rescued from the roof of their Asheville home as they watched “18-wheelers and cars floating by,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Friday (September 27).

Highlights
  • A photo shows grandparents trapped on their roof before drowning with their 7-year-old grandson due to Hurricane Helene.
  • The grandparents and their grandson drowned while waiting for rescue as floodwaters surrounded their Asheville home.
  • Megan Drye, who was trapped with her parents and nephew, was rescued after being lodged between trailers for three hours.

The house ultimately collapsed before they could be rescued, and Jessica’s parents, who were in their seventies, along with her 7-year-old nephew Micah, drowned in the floodwaters.

“They’ve called 911, but they aren’t the only ones needing rescue. This is definitely a moment when faith is all you have,” Jessica wrote on Friday.

Image credits: ABC News

The photo shows the couple staring at the exasperating landscape, surrounded by blankets. The floodwaters are only centimeters away from the base of the roof.

It was taken by her sister, Megan, who was trapped with their parents and Micah but was rescued after being taken by the current until she was lodged between two trailers.

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Megan stayed between the trailers for three hours until someone finally saw her.

“Those 3 hours were a story on their own, with a voice talking to her the entire time. She fought, and fought and fought until rescued,” Jessica wrote.

“Once that happened, that’s when she completely crumbled. We believe Micah, mama and daddy waited until Megan was rescued before being received into the hands of Christ.”

Hurricane Helene caused 40 fatalities, including Jessica’s family, after hitting the county that includes Asheville, North Carolina

Image credits: Jessica Drye Turner

She continued: “The waters have receded and there is nothing left standing except my dad’s law firm sign. And we’ve chuckled at that bc he was so proud of that sign.

“They are long gone, and if they could, they’d tell us not to be sad but to be filled with joy. And I’m at peace knowing this. 

“It will be a long road for Megan. One in which will also be hard for heather and me but we are just taking one day at a time.”

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Micah’s body was found a quarter of a mile (400 meters) away from where they rescued Megan, the grieving woman said on Monday (September 30). 

Image credits: Jessica Drye Turner

In the post, Jessica described the 7-year-old as “a perfect little boy,” adding, “He wanted to be a superhero. And now he is.”

Jessica and her other sister, Heather Kephart, started a GoFundMe page to help Megan after the loss of her son.

“For Megan Drye, our miracle, who has lived a mother’s worst nightmare. She has survived the unimaginable and lost absolutely everything,” the page description reads.

“The support of others will carry her and encourage her to keep taking one breath, one step, and one day at a time.

“We are living in the hope and peace that they are with Jesus and we will see our parents and Micah again one day.

“We have experienced miracle after miracle in her surviving the unimaginable nightmare of losing her parents and 7yo son right before her eyes, her being rescued after 3 hours in the water, to the precious doctors and nurses who took such good care of her as she first faced her new reality, to us being able to get to her even though WNC was completely shut down, to finally being together to begin healing.”

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Jessica lost her parents, who were in their seventies, and her seven-year-old nephew, Micah, whom she described as a “perfect little boy”

Image credits: Jessica Drye Turner

Image credits: gofundme

Helene’s devastation caused fatalities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia after making landfall late Thursday (September 26).

At least 133 deaths have been attributed to the hurricane that inflicted damage from Florida’s Gulf Coast, the Associated Press reported

Forty of those fatalities occurred in the county that includes Asheville, where Jessica’s parents and nephew drowned.

White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall suggested as many as 600 people hadn’t been accounted for as of Monday (September 30) afternoon, saying some might be dead.

Jessica started a GoFundMe page to help Micah’s mother, her sister Megan, who “survived the unimaginable and lost absolutely everything”

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Image credits: stormi_0817

Government officials and aid groups worked to deliver supplies by air, truck and even mule to Asheville and its surrounding mountain town, according to the AP.

“This has been an unprecedented storm that has hit western North Carolina,” said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper after taking an aerial tour of the Asheville area.

“It’s requiring an unprecedented response.”

Gov. Cooper said the state is coordinating 92 search and rescue teams from 20 states and the federal government, with most efforts being sent to the western part of North Carolina.

Image credits: stormi_0817

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said Monday that shelters were housing more than 1,000 people.

Several main routes in the North Carolina city, which has a population of nearly 94,500, were washed away or blocked by mudslides, and the city’s water system was severely damaged.

President Joe Biden is expected to travel to North Carolina next Wednesday (October 2) to meet with officials and take an aerial tour of Asheville.

People sent their condolences to the Asheville family and expressed frustration over the lack of a swift response from rescuers

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Marina Urman

Marina Urman

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Marina is a journalist at Bored Panda. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she holds a Bachelor of Social Science. In her spare time, you can find her baking, reading, or binge-watching a docuseries. Her main areas of interest are pop culture, literature, and education.

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Marina Urman

Marina Urman

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Marina is a journalist at Bored Panda. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she holds a Bachelor of Social Science. In her spare time, you can find her baking, reading, or binge-watching a docuseries. Her main areas of interest are pop culture, literature, and education.

Donata Leskauskaite

Donata Leskauskaite

Author, BoredPanda staff

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Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

Read less »

Donata Leskauskaite

Donata Leskauskaite

Author, BoredPanda staff

Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

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cali-tabby-katz avatar
LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The most vulnerable - the elderly and the very young - could not be saved. That devastates all of us, all humans, as a whole.

meaganglaser avatar
Meagan Glaser
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is what happens when the federal government absolutely guts FEMA...you know, the one organization meant to deal with events like this in America. People have been trying to get attention on the potential for disaster for years, and getting dismissed as dumb liberals because something taxes. Then disaster hits and everyone asks why the government isn't doing anything. Nobody cares until it's too late. nobody wants to plan and pay for preparation, then wonder why there's no resources when needed.

cali-tabby-katz avatar
LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

2019: "In late July, President Donald Trump’s administration informed Congress of its decision to reprogram $271 million from federal agencies, including $155 million from FEMA, in order to finance the effort to return undocumented migrants to Mexico." OH HEY GUESS WHO??? Is ANYONE surprised that the Orange Thing didn't give a rat's patootie about his own constituents during his reign as ImPOTUS?

Load More Replies...
guessundheit avatar
Guess Undheit
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they weren't white and middle class, rightwing ash soles would be saying "failure of citizenship," the insult rightwingnuts said about the poor in 2005 after deaths during hurricane Katrina. [ ........... ] Stop giving hurricanes women's names. Give them the names of oil and car companies.

Load More Comments
cali-tabby-katz avatar
LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The most vulnerable - the elderly and the very young - could not be saved. That devastates all of us, all humans, as a whole.

meaganglaser avatar
Meagan Glaser
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is what happens when the federal government absolutely guts FEMA...you know, the one organization meant to deal with events like this in America. People have been trying to get attention on the potential for disaster for years, and getting dismissed as dumb liberals because something taxes. Then disaster hits and everyone asks why the government isn't doing anything. Nobody cares until it's too late. nobody wants to plan and pay for preparation, then wonder why there's no resources when needed.

cali-tabby-katz avatar
LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

2019: "In late July, President Donald Trump’s administration informed Congress of its decision to reprogram $271 million from federal agencies, including $155 million from FEMA, in order to finance the effort to return undocumented migrants to Mexico." OH HEY GUESS WHO??? Is ANYONE surprised that the Orange Thing didn't give a rat's patootie about his own constituents during his reign as ImPOTUS?

Load More Replies...
guessundheit avatar
Guess Undheit
Community Member
2 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If they weren't white and middle class, rightwing ash soles would be saying "failure of citizenship," the insult rightwingnuts said about the poor in 2005 after deaths during hurricane Katrina. [ ........... ] Stop giving hurricanes women's names. Give them the names of oil and car companies.

Load More Comments
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