CRUSO, N.C. — Disaster that unfolded in mere hours will take years to rebound from in the mountains of North Carolina where the small community of Cruso was especially hard hit by floods. On Friday, two more people were found dead after an extensive search and recovery mission that is still ongoing.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher said the cleanup has begun but rebuilding is a longer journey, and those leading the effort have described an emotional toll on the community, stemming from the loss of life and livelihoods. Four people have died.
All along Highway 276, which follows the east fork of the Pigeon River as it runs through Cruso, are houses torn from their foundations, trailers lifted and smashed to pieces, and vehicles littered throughout the rubble.
Officials earlier Thursday confirmed the first two deaths resulting from the storm on Tuesday — Frank Mungo, 86, of Cruso, and Franklin McKenzie, 68, also of Cruso. The number of people missing has shrunk from 20 to five.
Hundreds of people been displaced.
Crews are still working to find the remaining people, with at least 225 search and rescue people floating the Pigeon River and digging through debris piles. K-9 crews and drone operators are also searching.
“It has really shaken my foundation,” Christopher said of the damage in Cruso.
By Friday, the river was beginning to return to normal. The water in Cruso has turned the color of turquoise — the way it should be. But the destruction along its banks leaves little to the imagination.
In one field, a half-dozen trailers remained after the flood, but they were surrounded by the foundations of others that had the homes ripped off. The trailers that used to occupy the field were nowhere to be seen.
At the site of a massive landslide, a home rested, somewhat lopsided, near the road. Allison Richmond, the spokeswoman for Haywood County Emergency Services, said it had previously been dozens of yards away.
Metal siding and lumber were everywhere, either pushed up along the bank or lodged into huge piles. The devastation continues unbroken for miles.
“They couldn’t answer the phone quick enough to pick up the next one,” Haywood County Emergency Services Director Travis Donaldson said of 911 dispatchers.
Along with workers from various state agencies, law enforcement and rescue operations, residents of Cruso donned mud boots and gloves and continued the long process of cleaning up.
But the damage is extraordinary, both to private properties and to public infrastructure.
In the Cruso area alone, there are 10 to 15 bridges, not including private bridges, that are damaged beyond use or completely destroyed, Donaldson said during a news conference Friday.
Everywhere there are debris piles, well over a dozen feet tall and dozens of feet wide.
“These piles consist of homes, trailers, campers, remnants of folks’ livelihoods and lives,” Donaldson said, “and they’re the size of houses piled up along these river banks — that’s a lot of debris to get through.”
“The amount of time, amount of work that it’s going to take to get through those debris fields may extend for weeks,” he added.
For the remainder of the missing, officials in some cases only have a first and last name to work off of, Christopher said. Earlier this week, shortly after search operations began, officials said some of those who are considered missing were visiting the area from out of town.
Assessing the true amount of damage poses similar problems. All along the river bank are destroyed homes and trailers. But in some areas along the river, fields or lots are simply empty now, and it is not immediately clear to officials what was there just before the flood.
Some residents “watched their community get wiped away,” Donaldson said.
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(Mark Price contributed to this story.)
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