ASHEVILLE - Nine-year-old Felix Wisely loved all things magical. The supernatural, folklore and creatures that most don’t believe in. He “loved to talk about the unknown,” his family said.
Felix's younger brother, 7-year-old Lucas, had a special affinity for superheroes. He'd attend school dressed as one character or another, earning a smile from teachers and staff. He also really loved cows .
The boys, second and third graders at North Buncombe Elementary School, are two of at least four Buncombe County Schools students killed by Tropical Storm Helene. Their father, Lance Wisely, confirmed their attendance to the USA Today Network Oct. 12.
The district announced the four student deaths on Oct. 11 without providing names, ages or the schools students attended. Superintendent Rob Jackson said the district is "continuing to search" for an additional 21 pupils.
BCS did not respond to USA Today Network inquiries as to what attempts have been made to reach the missing students’ families or if law enforcement is involved. It’s also unclear what disaster plan the district had in place prior to Helene.
“The loss of anyone diminishes us,” Jackson said at an emergency board of education meeting held Oct. 11. “Our school system is diminished by this loss.”
On Oct. 3, Buncombe County officials confirmed 72 deaths, making up about 60% of Western North Carolina’s at least 120 confirmed deaths, according to previous USA Today reporting . On Oct. 12, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Service has verified 42 deaths in Buncombe were Helene related, based on completed autopsies
Officials expect the death toll to rise as search and rescue crews continue their recovery efforts. The state department of health is also expected to verify more storm-related deaths as autopsies are completed.
'It was evident how loved those boys felt'
Felix and Lucas died on Sept. 27 as they, their mother – Alison “Aly” Wisely – and her fiancé, Knox Petrucci, attempted to evacuate their home in Green Mountain, a small town in Yancey County to the south of Burnsville.
Around noon, the group piled into their car to escape rising water from the overflowing Toe River, Petrucci’s sister, Briana Petrucci Yarbrough, wrote in a news release shared with the USA Today Network.
Yarbrough said a man witnessed the family’s attempted escape and relayed the story to surviving family.
According to Yarbrough and the boys’ father, the quartet tried to drive away but their car began to float. They exited the vehicle and tried to return home when “a big wave came and swept them all into the Toe River,” Lance wrote on Facebook .
The family’s home ultimately flooded, too, with water reaching within 2 inches of the ceiling in some rooms, Lance wrote. Lance, a Buncombe County resident, questioned whether the family would have fared any better if they’d stayed put.
On Oct. 2, five days after the group was swept away, Lance wrote that they were all presumed dead.
A day later, he wrote that first responders found Alison’s body in Tennessee. On Oct. 4, he updated the post, saying recovery crews had found Felix and Lucas.
When first responders entered the family’s home, they found their dog, Reishi, alive. She was floating on a mattress in a bedroom with a closed door. It had to be opened with an ax because it was so water-logged, Yarbrough said.
Felix's spotted leopard gecko, Sheila, also survived and was found by neighbors. A week later, the family cat, Mowgli, was also located.
Still missing is Moonpie, the family’s “sweet, sensitive hound,” Yarbrough said.
In an Oct. 3 Facebook post, Lance said he has replayed the many “what-ifs” that could have played out on Sept. 27.
What if they had stayed in their home? Could remaining in a bedroom have saved them, as it did their pup? Or perhaps, Lance wrote, the family would have climbed onto their kitchen table and pretended they were pirates “or otherwise at sea to try to help the children be less afraid.”
“This is what I imagined when I first realized that their house had likely taken (in) some flooding,” the Facebook post said. “That would have gone badly too.”
Yarbrough said as the surviving families, including the boys’ grandparents, grapple with their loved ones' deaths, they’re also remembering them fondly.
She called Aly “the most loving mother,” saying the woman “encouraged her children to stretch their imaginations and nurtured their creative, loving, funny spirits.”
Aly, 31, worked as sanctuary operations manager at Carolina Memorial Sanctuary, where she “gently guided others through their times of grief,” Yarbrough said.
Meanwhile, Knox, 41, was a local beekeeper, manager and community educator at Honey & the Hive in Weaverville. He was also an aspiring blacksmith, musician and artist.
“Along with being an advocate for the Earth and bees, Knox was always there for friends who were like family and inspired others in the way he moved through life with authenticity and boundless love and acceptance,” Yarbrough said.
And Yarbrough called the boys “beloved, curious, precocious” and “sweet.”
She added she was “so impressed” with how Lance, his partner Sarah, Aly and Knox co-parented.
“It was evident how loved those boys felt, and how free they felt to be their colorful, vividly imaginative selves,” Yarbrough said.
BCS disaster plans unknown
WNC school districts have reported that their staff has been conducting welfare checks in the wake of Helene, but Buncombe County Schools is one of the first districts to provide student death tolls.
BCS is the largest district in the region, comprising 45 schools in six districts. It has thousands of students and hundreds of staff.
Of its more than 22,200 students, the district has made direct contact with all but 21, officials said Oct 11. All staff have been reached.
While BCS officials said at the meeting they had “communication plans” leading up to Helene — including with local, state and national first responders — officials did not provide detail on the district’s disaster plan.
A district web page titled “Safe Schools” provides some details on procedures surrounding school violence, crisis management and emergency response, but the page doesn’t appear to have been recently updated.
A document titled “BCS Safe Schools Plan” is available online, though it was last revised in 2013.
And, despite its table of contents showing a section called “Severe Weather/Natural Disasters Protocols,” those practices have been removed from the public document.
The district did not respond to USA Today Network questions regarding the district’s disaster protocol, how well it worked and what challenges were encountered.
BCS’ next regular board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 14. The district doesn’t yet have a reopening date, but said Oct. 11 that 44 of 45 schools have power, 13 have water, and 39 have internet.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created to support the surviving families of Felix, Lucas, Aly and Knox gofundme.com/f/honoring-alison-knox-felix-and-lucas .
North Buncombe Elementary School is also urging residents to honor the family by participating in "Wisely Wednesday" on Oct. 16. The school wrote on Facebook that those who participate should volunteer "like Aly would," read something "magical" for Felix or dress like a superhero in honor of Lucas.
Families are encouraged to take photos of their participation and email them to nbesphotos@gmail.com. They will be posted on the school's Facebook page as a tribute to the Wisely family.
Isabel Hughes is a Delaware-based public safety reporter aiding the Asheville Citizen Times in post-Helene coverage. She can be reached at ihughes@delawareonline.com. For all things breaking news, follow her on X at @izzihughes_
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: 2 brothers killed in flood loved superheroes, cows. 21 Buncombe students still missing
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