close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

    • Asheville flood rescues, search for missing
    asane

    Asheville flood rescues, search for missing

    Online Niel Posted on

    ASHEVILLE – Tears filled Asheville Police Chief Mike Lamb’s eyes on Oct. 24 at the department’s headquarters.

    Lamb was speaking with the Citizen Times four weeks after Tropical Storm Helene submerged much of East Asheville, the River Arts District and the Biltmore Village area.

    “I’m sorry. There’s a lot, a lot of emotion,” Lamb said, clearing his throat after a pause.

    He recalled several stories of his officers’ rescue efforts along the Swannanoa River on Sept. 27 from Moffit Branch and Azalea and Swannanoa River roads.

    After going door-to-door telling people to evacuate earlier that morning, officers were stationed at various locations along the river calling for swift water rescues in partnership with the Asheville Fire Department.

    APD and swift water team rescue woman ‘floating down river’

    Specifically, Lamb detailed the moment a detective saw Asheville resident Megan Drye “floating in the river.” Seeing her begin to slip between two Conex boxes (steel shipping containers), the officer called the swift water team, who pulled her from the river.

    Drye had been with her parents and son on Sept. 27 when the family’s home collapsed into the Swannanoa River. All three died.

    Three days later, the same detective who spotted Drye found him Micah Drye, age 7 a quarter of a mile away.

    “It was closure for him,” Lamb said through emotion. “(Officers) were just able to help a lot of people, between evacuations and rescues. It was really, you know, they saved a lot of lives that day.”

    Helene numbers breakdown, recovery efforts

    In the days immediately after the storm, while cell service was knocked out, city police had an “influx” of emails, many from people outside the region hoping to make sure their loved ones were safe, Lamb said. The officers drew up a list and checked first those they considered the most urgent and vulnerable.

    With phone lines down, officers went to neighborhoods in person. It took a little over a week to get through the list of about 350 people. As of October 24, APD had nine active missing persons cases related to Helene, down from 60 on October 7.

    More: ‘Forever changed’: Asheville vigil honors those who lost their lives for Helena

    Of the list of 350, police determined three likely died from Helene before their bodies were later recovered, Lamb said. Six others are now known to have died from Helene in Asheville, incl three members of the Drye familywho Megan Drye previously described as brave, gentle and affectionate.

    “There were three others that we couldn’t find initially, but we knew had gone into the water,” Lamb said. “Out of the three, we managed to recover two. There’s one more I haven’t recovered yet.”

    More: Asheville family — including a 7-year-old child — died in Helene’s floods

    APD continues to investigate, looking for activity on cellphones and financial accounts, just in case. But as of now, the father is considered “presumed deceased”.

    Fate of missing Asheville man: ‘Presumed deceased’

    To locate the only Asheville resident who has yet to be found, police are working with neighbors to piece together what happened. A group of neighbors managed to rescue the resident’s two daughters, who were “hanging on, trying not to be washed away by the floodwaters,” Lamb said.

    During the Citizen Times interview, Lamb shared a heartbreaking reality of the floodwaters: “There’s really no rhyme or reason to where people have ended up.”

    “From the accounts we had of where people went into the water, there were so many different places along the river where they were recovered,” he said.

    Along with debris and buildings, 354 cars were washed down the river, Lamb said. Police initially used drones to search the cars, making sure no one was left inside before they could safely enter on foot.

    “I think at one point it was just a massive rush of water,” Lamb said, noting how the river washed away an entire section of the concrete bridge from Azalea Road to Gashes Creek Road, where he recalls he walked like a child.

    More: Asheville community pharmacist cried after Helene floods swept away apartment

    The day after the storm, 515 officers from 96 different agencies began cycling through Asheville in groups of 100. City police worked with the North Carolina National Guard, the FBI, New Jersey Search and Rescue and Los Angeles Search Rescue, using cadaver dogs to sniff. area.

    Lamb said as the recovery continues, there could be more people who died and were buried in the mud.

    Grateful for the support of the outside police, the residents of the city after Helene

    Personnel from the many outside agencies assisted local police in a variety of ways, from search and rescue, to securing barricaded roads, guarding distribution points, and escorting FEMA resources and Duke Power trucks.

    Of the APD personnel, five or six “lost everything or had significant damage to their homes,” Lamb said.

    Lamb talked about the emotional toll these officers have had over the past month and emphasized the importance of assistance from outside agencies that allows city police to take days off. Lamb also expressed gratitude for how community members and neighbors have helped by cutting downed trees, providing food for officers or simply writing letters to the police department.

    “I’m very proud of the Asheville community because everyone came together,” he said.

    More: Photos discovered in Helene’s wake tell the story of some families in the Asheville area

    More: A month later, an Asheville family is moving forward amid Helena’s destruction

    Ryley Ober is a public safety reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. She is a graduate of Indiana University and was a Citizen Times Summer News reporting intern in 2022. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

    Online Niel
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like