KEVIN LIVES ON

American Flag Shredded by Hurricane Florence Sells for Nearly $11K

The buyer paid $10,900 for the flag to honor a family member who died of cancer.

An eBay bidder on Sunday paid $10,900 to buy the American flag that was famously shredded in Hurricane Florence’s 100 m.p.h. winds. The seller, Richard Neal, told The Charlotte Observer that the new owners of the flag are an “Ohio family in the produce business.” They reportedly bought the flag to honor 64-year-old Kevin Caruso, who died of cancer Sunday in Charlotte. Caruso’s brother Mike said the family was “motivated” by the flag and was touched that the flag had been given the name “Kevin” by people who watched it get shredded during the storm on a livestream. “My brother lived his life like that flag in the storm, being courageous with chaos all around, never giving up,” Mike Caruso told the newspaper. “He and that flag were at the center of a great storm, staying calm, standing firm. People kept asking through the storm: ‘Is Kevin still there?’ And it was always still there, still standing.” Neal said all the proceeds from the flag sale will go to the American Red Cross. Mike told the Observer that the family intends to keep the flag in Ohio, unless “a museum in the Carolinas shows an interest.”