Hurricane Helene victims include young siblings killed by falling tree as they slept

Falling trees and raging floods from Hurricane Helene killed more than 150 people when it struck Florida late last week and then plowed through the Southeast as one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history.

People died in six states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Among them were two young siblings who died when the family's oak tree crashed into their bedroom, a man and his great-grandson, who died similarly to the children, and a sheriff's deputy who drowned after a dam broke.

Here are some of the stories of the victims:

Georgia siblings killed by falling tree

Seven-year-old Harmony Taylor and her 4-year-old brother, Derrick, were inseparable, their parents Herbert and Crystal Taylor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They played together, sang Muni Long's hit R&B ballad ''Made for Me" together and slept together, her arm always wrapped around him.

They died together early Friday when Helene's wind and rain toppled the family's giant oak tree and it crashed into their bedroom in Sandersville, a town of 6,000 in central Georgia.

Derrick loved his Hot Wheel cars and watching "Peppa Pig,'' ''Blippi'' and ''Bluey.'' He went to gymnastics class, where he would bounce on the trampoline. Autistic, he usually would only eat graham crackers and occasionally grapes or apple sauce.

They will be buried together Sunday in one coffin, a pack of graham crackers and Orbit gum with them. Harmony's arm will be wrapped around her little brother.

Family swept away in North Carolina

Michael and Nora Drye and their seven-year-old grandson Micah Drye died after their home in Asheville, North Carolina, collapsed and they were swept away by the currents.

Megan Drye, the couple's daughter and the boy's mother, said the family was stranded on the roof for hours as Hurricane Helene battered the region. She, too, was swept by the currents and survived.

''My grief is unfathomable,'' she said crying, adding that her faith in God and the prayers her family has been receiving are holding her up.

Drye said she was wearing a Deadpool T-shirt in honor of her son who had planned to dress as the superhero for Halloween.

Couple swept away as they drove to safety in Tennessee

Mike and Jean Obrist tried to drive to safety on the night of Sept. 27 when they were hit by a wall of turbulent water that rolled over them, their neighbor Gene Poland said.

The couple's daughter, Maureen, was able to climb out the window as the water rushed in and survived, but the Obrists couldn't make it, said Poland, who helped save people from the rising Nolichucky River in rural east Tennessee.

But when the water started rising fast and high, it really scared them, he said.

Rescue teams were still looking for the car the next morning, Poland said. The water was about 10 feet (3 meters) above the cars, so some time passed before they located it.

Great-grandfather and great-grandson die in a home in Georgia

Besides first responders, Helene also took the lives of members of the same family, as in the case of Stephen Donehoo, 72, and and Izaac Donehoo, his 10-year-old great-grandson. They were pronounced dead after a tree fell on a home in Augusta, according to Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen.

''Our family lost two wonderful souls to the storm,'' Michelle Donehoo, Stephen's daughter and Izaac's grandmother, posted on Facebook. She posted a link to a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.

''Aaron grew up with his cousin Izaac ... and those of you who knew Steve knew how amazing his soul was,'' Carlton said.

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