Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the fourth installment.  

Sarah Moore describes the sensation she felt that afternoon, shortly after Tropical Storm Helene passed through, of her skin crawling, an uneasy feeling that something was amiss.

Her father, Timothy, was missing.

Installment 1: Helene took entire families, couples, children

Installment 2: Fairview landslides from Helene that killed 13 were among worst in North Carolina history

Installment 3: Two sought refuge together, but Swannanoa River’s flooding proved fatal

She searched the basement of the Woodfin home they shared and then checked with her grandmother, who lived in a trailer behind the house. No sign of him.

She ventured onto the concrete foundation where her father planned to build a garage. It was the last place she’d seen him after he ventured out with a chainsaw to clear a fallen tree.

As she got closer, her mind struggled to process the sight before her. Another tree had fallen, trapping her father.

“All I could see were his legs and his feet,” said Sarah, 31.

Sarah sped to a nearby fire station. “I just screamed for somebody to help me, and within five minutes of me finding him, they were down there cutting the tree, trying to get it off,” she said. “I was just waiting to hear…and then they told me that he passed, that he was gone.

“I can’t get that picture out of my mind.”

Timothy Moore, 60, had been a deliveryman for Pepsi for 30 years. He was a year from retirement, his daughter said, and planned to use the garage to house his prized motorcycle, his truck and a classic car he hoped to buy and restore.

“My daddy was a strong person, redneck as hell, but he was a good person,” Sarah said. “He loved to help people. He loved kids. He used to do the Toy Run on his motorcycle.”

Moore also loved the rock band AC/DC.

“He used to work out and put in an AC/DC or Kiss album. It was usually Back in Black or Highway to Hell…and he’d blare the music throughout the house,” Sarah said. “And when the CD was over, his workout was done.”

Timothy Moore’s father had left his family when he was a young boy, and he made sure to be there for his two daughters, Sarah said.

When she was a child he would surprise her with porcelain dolls and would buy food to feed stray cats in the neighborhood.

“He didn’t like cats,” Sarah said. “He would make sure the cats would continue to come back to me just because he saw it made me happy.”

After Sarah, who was facing medical bills, moved in with her dad about a year ago he left money around the house so that she wouldn’t have to ask if she needed a little extra cash.

“He always made sure that we had what we needed and worked his ass off to try to get us the stuff that we wanted as well,” she said. “He was just always there for us.”

Lisa Plemmons

Lisa Plemmons was due at her job cooking for residents of River Bend Health and Rehabilitation the morning Helene roared through. She never made it.

Plemmons had been staying at a campground along the Swannanoa River after a relative sold the house she was living in last year.

“Her boyfriend called and said that he was on the roof at the bathhouse at the KOA [Campground], and his van, like a full conversion camper van, and her Honda Civic car got swept away in the river,” said her son, Jackson Presnell.

For days, Presnell called the American Red Cross and authorities who were tracking those missing from the storm.

“My cousin, Mitchell, was actually out there in Swannanoa, just sitting on the bridge with all the water raging,” looking for her car, Presnell said. “He sat there for a whole day or two.”

Plemmons’ body was found six days later more than a mile from the campground. The cause of death was drowning.

Her son believes she was asleep and did not notice the river rising.

Plemmons, 52, had been a cook at nursing homes for years, her family said.

“This was her calling,” said Presnell’s grandmother, Mary. “She loved the cooking, and the people there loved her because of her cooking.”

Plemmons took time off from work to care for sick relatives and loved preparing meals for her extended family.

“She cooked seven Thanksgiving dinners on Thanksgiving,” her son said.

“She had a very caring heart,” Mary Presnell said. “She was family-oriented. You don’t see that much anymore. She really cared about her family, everybody in it. She looked after them.”

Brian Carter

Brian Carter died at his home in Asheville Oct. 2 of complications from cancer.

“Inability to attend chemotherapy session” and Helene are listed as contributing conditions, according to his death certificate.

Carter, 78, originally from Guyana, was a self-employed janitor, the death certificate said. His widow, Cynthia, declined an interview.

“Let us continue to keep the Carter and connected families in our thoughts and prayers,” his obituary said.

Jessica Kirby

Jessica Kirby, 36, died of “landslide/flooding injuries,” according to her death certificate.

Her body was found Oct. 4 near the Swannanoa River in Asheville.

Kirby, a home health aide, lived in Black Mountain, the death certificate said. She had two children, who lived in Boone, according to an obituary.

Attempts to reach her family were unsuccessful.

Investigative reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin contributed to this report.

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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