Family Flees Ukraine War Only to Die in Hurricane Helene

Couple, their son, and his grandma killed or presumed killed in North Carolina
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 22, 2024 2:30 AM CDT
Family Flees Ukraine War Only to Die in Hurricane Helene
FILE - Homes and vehicles that were damaged in a flash flood from Hurricane Helene lie on the side of a road near the Swannanoa River, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, NC.   (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

A couple, their 13-year-old son, and the boy's grandmother fled Ukraine after Russia invaded their country in 2022, finding what they believed was safety in North Carolina, where they lived near family. But tragedy struck last month when Hurricane Helene hit, People reports. Anastasia Novitnia-Segen and her husband Dmytro Segen were confirmed dead on Oct. 14. Their son, Yevhenii Segen, and Novitnia-Segen's mother, Tetiana Novitnia, are still missing and are presumed dead. "She never wanted to leave Ukraine, but when she came down to North Carolina, she was shocked," a relative tells USA Today of Novitnia. "She loved the river and the views."

But that river—the South Toe River, not far from the family's manufactured home in Micaville, an unincorporated community in the Blue Ridge Mountains—started to rise when Helene hit, and on Sept. 27, it surged almost 6 feet in 7 hours. Novitnia-Segen's sister, her husband, and their two kids, who lived just a quarter-mile away, escaped to higher ground. Then the couple returned to find Novitnia-Segen and her family and help them to safety—but they saw no trailer, only water. "One second, there's a house with people in it, and then you go look at it and it's not there," Novitnia-Segen's brother-in-law says. "It's like an illusion." Their own house was also lost, and a GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the family. (More Hurricane Helene stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X