Teacher, mother, sister, friend – Kim Ashby filled many roles, and her absence since floodwaters from Hurricane Helene washed away her North Carolina home has left a gaping hole in the community.
As Ashby's family nears the two-week mark since the storm struck the Southeast and washed away her vacation home, they remain determined to find her.
"I don't know that we've fully processed what's happened. I think the not knowing is the worst part. It's absolutely torturous, and we're we're kind of in limbo, waiting to process this fully until we know where she is, and so we're stuck right now, honestly," Jessica Meidinger, Ashby's daughter, told Fox News early Monday.
According to Meidinger, Ashby and her husband had no time to get to higher ground after a surge of water knocked their home into the violent river, starting the devastating string of events.
"Everything happened really quickly. There was not a whole lot of flooding, and suddenly there was just a surge of water. We now know it's related to a bridge that had dammed and broke," Meidinger explained.
Ashby's husband and Meidinger's stepfather, Rod, managed to pull himself from the debris. Holding on to his wife, they searched for a way out of the situation.
Shortly after, the piece of the home they used to stay afloat struck a tree in the middle of the river, and the two were separated.
Rod was later found safe, more than two miles from where the home once stood. Kim hasn't been seen since.
"We've had tons of help, which is amazing and kind of really speaks to how well this story has been shared and how meaningful she's been to a lot of strangers," Meidinger said.
"We had complete strangers saying, 'Hey, your mom's story has touched me. I'm headed there with ATVs to help.' I know the National Guard's been on site. We've had a ton of FEMA resources, but that's what makes it even harder is we've had so many people out there, so much help, so much technology, and we still can't find her.
"At this point, FEMA has had to redeploy their resources to help other families in need, which we totally understand. We don't want to suck up those resources. We don't want to keep other families from being helped like ours, but it makes it harder and harder every day when she's still not found," she continued.
One hypothesis, according to posts circulating across social media, including one shared by Meidinger herself, Ashby could be in an uninhabited and inaccessible area beyond the falls of the Elk River. She was reportedly last seen wearing a red shirt and black pants.
Meidinger described her mom as "selfless" and "compassionate," adding that she wouldn't want so many resources to go toward finding her.
"She's been a teacher for over 20 years in North Carolina, and we've had students that were her students this year. We've had students from 20 years ago reach out and tell us their story and how my mom has helped them through their difficult home life and made sure that they were fed and that they got home safely and showed up on weekends to their baseball games, and she's just the best mother, the best sister. There's no way that she would be okay with the number of resources that she's been using because there are so many families that are also hurting and missing, but our family is selfish and is going to say, ‘Please keep looking for her,’" she said, chuckling a bit.
Ashby remains among hundreds unaccounted for in the storm-battered western North Carolina region that saw unprecedented torrential rainfall as Helene made its way through Appalachia.
Parts of East Tennessee, western South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Florida also suffered devastating damage at the hands of the storm, and those located in more isolated mountainous areas have been difficult to reach by aid workers and search and rescue teams.
In some instances, roads, bridges and other pathways have been so badly damaged that supplies can only be delivered to remote areas via mules.
With so many displaced, affected regions are still in need of essential supplies like non-perishable food items, bottled water, clothing, baby and pet items, blankets, medical supplies and toiletries.
