Eleven members of one family lived and died in the Fairview area of Buncombe County near the Garren Creek Fire Department after mudslides decimated the community.
The group of homes where the family lived is "just gone," Leah Howard told WRAL News.
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"It's just really devastating," she said.
Sam Runion, who is a friend of the family, shared his thoughts about the news.
"This is just an absolutely unbelievable tragedy," Runion said. "It's going to be hard to move forward without them."
He’s still trying to unpack how this all happened.
He said the Craigs were larger than life.
"They call it Craigtown because the Craigs were there," Runion said. "It's kind of a country thing, but they're just pillars of the community."
"They would do anything for you. They really do have servants' hearts. That's the best way I could put it ... They were just loving people."
Runion said there are even more Craigs who live here, so he feels like their legacy as a pillar in this community will continue for generations. However, it doesn’t detract from the magnitude of their loss.
"They need a lot right now, but they're going to need a whole lot in the future," Runion said.
The Craigs were some of the 120 people who died in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene. Some of the victims included mothers, grandparents and fiancees. For now, survivors are digging through the rubble from landslides.
"They recovered a couple of wood stoves out of a couple of the homes," Runion said. "They're talking about making a memorial out of those wood stoves, which would be really neat."
Family friends set up a GoFundMe and said the money will go toward rebuilding homes, funeral arrangements, medical expenses, unemployment during the grieving process, etc. You can donate at GoFundMe.com.