ASHEVILLE – A missing Asheville resident has been found dead after a days-long search following Tropical Storm Helene.
Samira Zoobi was confirmed dead. She was 28.
Colette Zoobi said her daughter was in her apartment unit at Riverview Apartments on Rivers Edge Road near Tunnel Road and off the Swannanoa River during Helene on Sept. 27.
She said she texted with her daughter at 10:30 a.m. and the water had risen to the second level of the apartment building. She said rescuers were called and arrived around 1 p.m.
“At that point, they were trying to save all the residents, and her building was washed away,” Colette Zoobi said. “She was not able to get ahold of the ropes and was washed away.”
Colette Zoobi said the family was notified on Tuesday night, Oct. 1.
“She was a creative spirit. Everybody loved her,” Colette Zoobi said. “She was so loving. Everybody who knew her loved her. She was like a bright light in the room.”
Colette Zoobi posted about her daughter’s missing status in the Facebook group, Helene-Asheville Lost and Found, which was later removed.
Asheville T-Shirt Company, where Samira Zoobi worked for more than three years, posted an update about her death on Oct. 2, stating, “Yesterday, we lost a beloved member of our Asheville T-Shirt family. Our hearts are shattered and we are left broken. Samira was all the things you would come to love and adore in a friend. They were the kindest of souls and incredibly talented in their craft. We were blessed to have spent 3.5 years working alongside Samira; the fond and quirky memories of Samira will forever remain in our hearts.”
Colette Zoobi told the Citizen Times that she was thankful for the Asheville community who rallied to find her daughter.
“The community has been so supportive but I want them now to focus on finding the others who are missing and bring those loved ones home,” she said.
As of 4 p.m. Oct. 2, Sheriff Quentin Miller reported the storm-related death toll in Buncombe County was 61. A total of 73 deaths have been reported in Western North Carolina.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and covered the arts, entertainment and hospitality in Louisiana for several years. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Mom: Asheville woman, 28, was ‘washed away’, died in Helene floods
