Asheville flood rescues and missing persons searches

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

Lamb spoke to the Citizen Times four weeks after Tropical Storm Helene flooded much of East Asheville, the River Arts District and the Biltmore Village area.

“I’m sorry. There are a lot of emotions,” Lamb said, clearing his throat after a brief silence.

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

After going door to door earlier that morning telling people to evacuate, officers were stationed at several locations along the river and called out rescues to the swift water team in conjunction with the Asheville Fire Department.

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

In particular, Lamb described the moment a detective saw Asheville resident Megan Drye “floating down the river.” Seeing her land between two Conex boxes (steel shipping containers), the officer called in the swift water team, who pulled her from the river.

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

Three days later, the same detective who saw Drye was found 7-year-old Micah Drye a quarter mile away.

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

Analyzing Helene numbers, recovery attempts

During the days immediately after the storm, when cell service was wiped out, city police received an “influx” of emails, many from people outside the region hoping to ensure their loved ones were safe, Lamb said. Officers drew up a list and first checked those they believed were most urgent and vulnerable.

Because the phone lines were down, officers personally went to neighborhoods. It took just 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 to Helene

Of the list of 350, police determined that three had likely died from Helene before their bodies were later recovered, Lamb said. Six others are now known to have died of Helene in Asheville, including the 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 were going into the water,” Lamb said. “We were able to retrieve two of those three. There is one more that we haven’t found yet.”

More: Asheville family – including 7-year-old child – killed by Helene floods

APD continues to investigate and looks for activity on cell phones and financial accounts, just in case. But as of now, the father is considered ‘presumed deceased’.

Fate of missing Asheville resident: ‘Presumed deceased’

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

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

“From the stories we had about 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 washed down the river, Lamb said. Police initially used drones to search the cars so no one could remain inside until it was safe to enter on foot.

“I think at one point there was just a huge rush of water coming through,” Lamb said, pointing out how the river took with it an entire section of the concrete bridge from Azalea Road to Gashes Creek Road, where he remembers as a child.

More: Asheville’s community pharmacist mourned after Helene’s water washed away the 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 search the area.

Lamb said as recovery continues, more people may die and be buried in the sludge.

Grateful for support from external police, city residents after Helene

Personnel from the numerous outside agencies assisted local law enforcement in a variety of ways, from search and rescue to securing barricaded roadways, monitoring distribution points and escorting FEMA assets and Duke Power trucks.

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

Lamb spoke of the emotional weight these officers have carried over the past month and emphasized the importance of outside agency assistance, which allows city police to take days off. Lamb also expressed gratitude for how community members and neighbors have helped by cutting down fallen trees, providing food to officers or simply writing letters to the police department.

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

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

More: A month later, an Asheville family moves on amid Helene’s devastation

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. She is a graduate of Indiana University and was the 2022 Citizen Times Summer News Reporting Intern. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober