Mom of 1-Year-Old Boy Killed in Florence Flood Speaks Out

The mother of 1-year-old boy Kaiden Lee Welch, who died in Hurricane Florence’s floodwaters, has spoken out.

Dazia Lee said she has been traumatized after her child was swept away in the floodwaters in Union County, North Carolina, where an overflowing creek from Florence’s rains washed out a road. Lee reportedly drove through police barricades and onto a road covered with moving water before her vehicle was swept away.

Officials said she tried to free her son from his car seat but she lost her grip on the boy. Rescue crews saved Lee, but they didn’t find the boy’s body until Sept. 17.

“He was my first and only child and now he’s just gone. I don’t even feel like a parent no more. He’s just gone,” said Lee, WCNC-TV reported. “I’ve been traumatized. I can’t …” said Lee.

Union County Sheriff’s officials said that her car hit a tree after it was swept in 10 feet of water, the report said.

Search and rescue teams spent several hours o Sept. 16 searching for the missing 1 year old child, Kaiden Lee-Welch. Union County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Eddie Cathey said, “When she was trying to get out of the water she lost control of the child and then the rescue team rescued her but the child was lost,” according to the report.

Lee said that she saw other people cross the road without incident, saying that she didn’t drive around a police barricade. The barricade wasn’t there, she told the news outlet.

“I was about to detour ... I want to know whoever moved the barricades. I lost my son because of this,” said Lee.

The Charlotte Observer reported that 32 people died, including three children. The first child death from Florence was a 7-month-old who was killed on Sept. 14, and the child’s 41-year-old mother was killed. A tree fell on their home.

“I couldn’t hold on anymore, and he let go,” Kaiden’s mother, Dazia Lee, told Fox46.

The sheriff added, “She was a stranger to this community driving on this road she did not know, she did drive around the barricades and proceeded on 218,” WCNC reported.

“The only thing I’m happy is they found him. Knowing that he’s just gone. I just wanted to see him one more time,” said Lee.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina Highway Patrol are investigating and will see if criminal charges should be filed in the case.