‘I didn't think that it would be that hard, but it is': 6 months of grieving 11 family members after Helene in NC

Yahoo

28-03-2025

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WNCN) — How many generations have heard the same calm trickling sound? The sound that lulled them to sleep or helped pass the time on the front porch. The creek that kids played in on hot summer days. Childhood memories are now a much-needed comfort for Bryan Craig.
'There was three houses immediately behind me, a cousin's house, my grandmother's house and an aunt and uncle house and I don't know if you can see the bulldozers…that was my parent's house—mom and dad—and then around the corner was another house with a great aunt and uncle,' Craig said as he stood in front of what is now a field of dried mud.
Helene 6 months later: Rebuilding neighborhoods in Buncombe County, NC
More than a mile up the mountain, Hurricane Helene showed no mercy. More than a mile's worth of trees, rocks, boulders and mud came gushing down the creek bed. Anything in its way became a part of it. Anyone in its way stood no chance.
Two of those who rushed to save people became victim to yet a second wave and then there was a third wave. Mercy seemed to have abandoned Craigtown.
Thirteen people in the swath of land didn't survive. Eleven of them were Bryan Craig's family, including his parents who were inside his childhood home.
Six months later he says it's extremely difficult. 'I didn't think that it would be that hard, but it is.' Bryan says the mourning process still comes in waves.
'You know it's just day by day. Some day you don't, some days are really good, and then other days are really hard. And it's still that way.' He also finds himself praying to his parents and thinking about what they would say to him.
Helene 6 months later: An artist's lifeline to another in western North Carolina
'She'd ask me about football. She'd ask me about football, she loved it. Grandkids…' he said as his voice trailed off as he was caught in a moment of grief. Bryan is a schoolteacher and football coach.
Just the Saturday before the storm Bryan's parents stood side by side for their granddaughter's wedding. Their last days were among their proudest.
So, what to do now to help the acres of pain, where houses once stood, evolve into a field of promise?
Bryan said it will start with grass. 'A place to come and hang out and bring grandkids and one day bring them and let them play in the creek, fish you know do what kids do, I definitely see that in the future.'
Just like Bryan used to do, with the sound of water now a sign of healing.
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