‘He’s my everything:’ Woman recalls watching husband be swept away in floodwaters

By Hannah Mackenzie

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    HAYWOOD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — More than a dozen people are still missing following the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred. According to the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, two people have been killed. Their identities have not been released.

‘He’s my everything:’ Woman recalls watching husband be swept away in floodwaters

Rescue crews from across the state are actively searching for 20 people. And 74-year-old John “Jack” Krolak is one of them, his wife Donna said.

“He’s my everything,” Donna said.

Donna said her husband, a retired police officer, was attempting to get to higher ground after the couple received an emergency alert instructing them to evacuate their campsite at Laurel Bank Campground. Within minutes, the water rose several feet, Donna said.

“We were basically on an island,” Donna said. “We had no place to go.”

Desperately searching for an escape route, Donna said Jack got out of the vehicle.

“Water was only up to his ankles,” Donna said. “He got out of the passenger side and went to the back. By the time he got back to the passenger door, the water was already up to almost his thighs, almost to his waist. He couldn’t get back in.”

Donna said Jack clung to the side of the car as water rushed around him. Then she said, the unthinkable happened.

“A camper from the other end came down, and it still had part of the porch attached,” Donna said. “The part of the porch hit [Jack] in the head and drug him back off the car, and that’s the last I saw of him.”

Donna said Jack was swept away by the raging current in front of her eyes. She recalled her last words to him.

“I asked him not to leave me,” Donna said. “I begged him not to leave me.”

Donna was then alone, with the couples’ boxer, Yanni. Her nightmare not yet over.

“Then my car started lifting up and it got swept away, as well,” Donna said. “It went back, and it got wedged against a tree on the passenger side. The debris and water kept coming and hitting the driver’s side and going up over the windshield.”

Donna said she was pinned inside the car for about three hours. When the water receded, she and Yanni were able to crawl out of the back hatch and walk to safety. It wasn’t until the next day that rescue crews were able to get to them.

Donna and Yanni are now staying with friends. Her thoughts are solely on her husband of 25 years.

“We’re just waiting to hear from somebody something,” Donna said. “Obviously, my hope is that they will find him alive, but as time goes on, I’ve almost resigned myself to the fact that this is more of a recovery and not a rescue. It’s just hard. I think that’s the hardest part – not knowing.”

Donna said she and Jack have camped at Laurel Bank Campground for four years. Their camping neighbors have become more like family. According to Donna, they are all hurting right now, as three others from the campground are also missing.

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