Mitchell death toll rises to 6
Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
County Manager Allen Cook confirmed last week that six people died in Mitchell County as a result of Hurricane Helene.
Four of those drowned in floodwaters and two others died as a result of accidents related to the storm. Cook would not officially release names of the victims, but family members have released statements saying that Alison Wisely and her children Felix, 9, and Lucas, 7, were washed away along with Alison’s fiancé, Knox Petrucci.
The family reportedly died while trying to evacuate their home on Relief Road Extension in north Mitchell County.
“It’s so sad,” friend Michelle Mejia said. “But their lives were so full of joy.”
Daniel Davis, fire chief at the Bradshaw Volunteer Fire Department, said that Wisely and Petrucci’s neighborhood suffered some of the worst flooding in the county.
“The flood has been catastrophic — people lost their whole homes, their vehicles,” Davis said. “The worst parts of the county would probably be going down Huntdale and then Relief Road.”
Mejia has been salvaging mementos of the family’s life from their flooded home, including Wisely’s wedding dress. Wisely and Petrucci had planned a wedding for Nov. 9.
“Aly & Felix had a family-friendly podcast about cryptids and paranormal called ‘Beyond Legends,’” Mejia said. “Lucas was learning Spanish and so every weekend they visited me at the farmers market we spoke Spanish. … Aly bought flowers to dry for her November wedding at the very last market from my good friend, and I found them in a tree in her front yard.”
Wisely and Petrucci were beekeepers and members of the Toe Cane Beekeepers Association. Petrucci was a manager at Honey & the Hive in Weaverville, and Wisely worked at Carolina Memorial Sanctuary.
“When Hurricane Helene took our Alison, Knox, Felix, and Lucas from us, it shattered our worlds, leaving a void which cannot be filled,” their families said in a statement on GoFundMe.com. “Yet, in the midst of this profound grief, your donations, kind words, and gestures of support have been a lifeline.”
Relief Road Extension connects Mitchell County with Yancey County. Davis said that although the road is still in bad shape it has been reopened to traffic.
Mejia said it looks like water rose to about two feet from Wisely and Petrucci’s ceiling. However, most of their pets were rescued after the storm. Friends and neighbors are still looking for their female red hound, Moonpie, and community members are asked to keep an eye out for her.
The Bradshaw department serves a population of around 1,700 in the Tipton Hill, Bailey Settlement, Poplar and Huntdale areas. Davis said the area still has a lot of recovery work ahead of it.
“They said there isn’t going to be power in these parts for about four months,” he said. “We have been over-abundant with supplies, but so far people have been going through them as fast as we can put them out.”
Bradshaw VFD has a number of resources available to community members still without power or water, including showers.
“A lot of people from Ohio, Kentucky have been bringing in resources like supplies,” Davis said. “They’ve been helping us cut trees out of the road, clearing roads and stuff to get people access.”
Meanwhile, community members are still mourning what they have lost.
“Stay strong, and we’ll get through this together,” Davis said.