PARK CITY — As Kerry and Brad Wright watched Hurricane Helene approach the coast, they weren’t too worried about their family members on an inland homestead in Fairview, North Carolina. Nevertheless, tragedy struck when floodwater and a mudslide tore through the small town, killing 11 members of their family.
"It was pretty shocking initially," Brad Wright said on Tuesday. "At that point (during the flooding and mudslide) there was no cell service or anything like that. I mean, people couldn't even call 9-1-1 at that point."
Brad spoke to his father on Thursday, Sept. 26. His father wasn't concerned, just thought the creek running through the neighborhood would rise. By Friday night, Brad got a phone call that he never expected: His childhood home was no longer standing, and both of his parents were missing.
He immediately called his wife.
“I knew when the phone started ringing," Kerry Wright said. "I just had that gut feeling and to hear the stress and strain and fear in his voice, he said, 'My parents are missing.'”
Thirteen people in that neighborhood in total were killed from the flooding and mudslide.
"There was a lingering hope that they had survived, but the more details that had came out, it was unfortunately leaning toward the more obvious that they weren't gonna be able to survive something like that,” Brad said.
Eleven of the 13 dead were Wright's family members, including both of his parents.
“We had found remnants of my parents' house miles down the road. It was completely destroyed and broken apart," Brad said.
It took 10 days to find all of the bodies in the debris.
“His mom was the farthest, his mom, to fathom driving from there, where their place once stood, to three miles down the road where her body was found,” Kerry said. "Oct. 1 would have been 65 years of marriage. They got to celebrate it in heaven."
Now what remains of his parents, Daniel, 82, and Evelyn, 81, are the memories, photos and voicemails they will keep forever.
"They loved everybody. They loved on everybody that they could. My dad was a deacon of the church for, as long as I can remember, he was the deacon of the church," Brad said. "Mom loved on everybody through just hugging on them, cooking meals for them, all that they could. She loved to play the piano."
The Wrights moved to Montana last year, but they traveled back to North Carolina last week to help pick up the pieces. While there, they were able to find Brad's father's gun safe and his parents' fire and floodproof security box. Kerry said that they expected to see documents inside the security box, but they found Evelyn's jewelry instead.
"I actually have one of her rings that I keep around my neck. She had teeny fingers. So, that doesn't even fit my pinky. That tells you she was, I don't wanna say like a southern debutante, but she was just the sweetest soul, so kind, so gentle," Kerry said. "Sweetest people you'll ever meet."
They are now focused on helping the family members who survived the destruction.
Kerry works at the Carlton Depot, a bar and restaurant in Laurel. When the owner, Shawna Hopper, first heard about what the Wrights were going through, she knew she wanted to help.
"She (Kerry) called me on a Saturday and just broke down in tears and couldn't even hardly talk," Hopper said. "For an entire family of 11 to be wiped out is just devastating. And you don't realize how it can affect people from all over the country."
Hopper got right to work raising money for the family as they were traveling to Fairview. Hopper plans to hold a fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the restaurant.
"I just wanted to do something to make a difference. A difference for them, a difference for the help that they need out there," Hopper said. "It truly takes a community and a village to help each other in events like this, tragedies like this, and supporting one another."
Proceeds raised will go to the Wrights. Hopper also said donations can be made to the "Kerry and Brad Wright - N.C. Fund" at SEG Federal Credit Union in Laurel.
“It's caring for the people that are left, caring for these families who have lost everything,” Kerry said. “It's gonna be a long road and a long process. And process the trauma of what they've seen and been through, too.”
