Floods Wash Away NC's 'Rainbow Bridge'

Hurricane Helene brought more heartbreak to pet owners who left collars and leashes as memorials at a real-life Rainbow Bridge. The bridge was wiped out by floodwaters, along with the rest of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, the Asheville Citizen Times reports. The pet memorial was one of 30 themed gardens planted along the bridge in western North Carolina in the years after it was decommissioned in 2011. The Rainbow Bridge was created by artist Amy Wald after she lost her dog, according to the town of Lake Lure's website.

WKRC described the bridge, which was inspired by the famous poem, as a "heartwarming tribute to beloved pets and a place where visitors left collars and tags to honor pets who had 'crossed the Rainbow Bridge.'" Hundreds of collars had been attached to the rails on the bridge, where a sign said it was a place to "peacefully honor and remember our four-legged family members," per the Citizen Times. Videos show the surface of Lake Lure, in the mountains outside Asheville, covered in debris, the AP reports. The storm killed more than 100 people, including at least 30 in one North Carolina county. (More Hurricane Helene stories.)