A mom died in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene as he helpless family watched left - trapped without cell service to call for help.
Shirley Rotolo died unexpectedly from a suspected heart attack in the days after Helene wrecked havoc on the North Carolina town of Asheville . As the family were still recovering amid the devastation , they were left without acess to call for help with no service - leaving them to simply hold 55-year-old Shirley as she passed away on the morning of September 28.
Just hours before suffering the suspected heart attack, Shirley had witnessed the destruction of her hometown after she ventured out to try and find supplies. Now her daughter Nausica says the last 10 days have been "pure hell" as she tries to arrange a funeral from an Airbnb.
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Nausica said: "My mother loved Asheville. She always said it was the place where she had the most friends. She loved her job there. She was happy there and I think it was just overwhelming for her. I strongly believe that if this hurricane had not happened that my mother would still be here."
In an emotional tribute on a GoFundMe page , her family wrote: "We are in denial, our mother is our home and we lost her and at the same time watched our home town be wiped away by the hurricane. The horror of this last weekend will stay with us forever.
"Our mother is a magical woman, passionate, strong-willed, and inspiring, with the best sense of humor, always making us laugh and finding time to be playful and full of joy. The pain and loneliness we feel is indescribable, her shoes feel impossible to fill. She is superwoman and going on without her will be the hardest thing any of us will ever have to do. She will be forever missed.
"Now that she is gone, I am hoping as a community, we can care for her family as she always did. Please give whatever you can. Anything will help. Thank you."
It comes just days after another family issued an emotional plea to help find a mom who was ripped from her husband's arms when their house was swept away. Kim Ashby and her husband Rod had just completed building their dream home in Elk Park, NC, when disaster struck last Thursday . Kim and Rod had decided to visit their newly build mountain home before the storm slammed into the state in a bid to ensure it would be secure.
However, her worried children, Chris and Jessica Meidinger, have spoken out, saying the couple "didn't know that it was going to to be what it turned into" - as Helene wreaked havoc across southern states - with 166 now confirmed dead . Rod had built the home with his own two hands, before their dream getaway space turned into a nightmare as Helene slammed into their town on Thursday night.
Chris and Jess last heard from their mom on Thursday night, and explained to ABC11 that Kim and Rod had made sure to lift anything precious off the ground floor of the home - which Rod had specifically built a 12ft higher than the last record highest flood.
Kim had called her children to say they had made it safely to the home and reassured them flooding was far from their home. Later in Friday morning, Kim was reportedly pouring coffee when a violent crack sounded through the house - later realising a supportive beam had cracked.
By the time they rushed to get to higher ground, it was too late and the couple were forced to simply shelter in their bedroom with their three dogs. Huddling on their mattress, the house was being swept away before it suddenly slammed into the river bank and collapsed around them.
Kim and Rod clutched one another's hands as the storm water submerged them and their home, however the powerful flood later slammed them into a tree and ripped them apart. Rod was found 24 hours later on Saturday. Chris said: "That's what split them apart, and he was not able to hold on to her."
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