NC Officials on Floodwaters Search for Kids: 'He Got Away'

Smithfield officials described the dangerous situation rescuers faced after a woman and her young children were swept away by floodwaters late Monday night. Two children, ages 4 and 5, are still missing.

Sheriff Steve Bizzell on Wednesday described six first responders being thrown in the water early Tuesday as their rescue boats were tossed against trees while trying to reach the car.

RELATED: NC Firefighters Search for Kids after Rescue Boats Capsize

“One of the firemen had the little boy,” he said, “and because of the raging water he got away.”

A mother in a white sedan drove around a bend and over the creek, where the pavement had washed away in one lane and created a sinkhole. She dialed 9-1-1 with the children inside in the car, Smithfield Fire Chief John Blanton said Tuesday during a news conference.

For hours, firefighters tried to reach them in swift boats, fighting darkness, floating debris, low branches and a rush of water. Rescuers on one of the boats plucked the mother and one child from the water, then the boat capsized in the flood. Four rescue boats capsized, and all but the two children were saved, Blanton said.

Bizzell said the missing children and near rescue has taken an emotional toll. One of the first responders thrown from his boat was also missing for a while before getting free of the water.

“For those of you that want to say defund the police and you don’t need us, you need us,” he said.

The search for the missing children continues

For a second day, Johnston County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday searched a fast-moving Neuse River for two children.

Bizzell said deputies searched for 17 hours Tuesday and their numbers had grown to 40 Wednesday. Though the river remains high and choked with debris, they continue their search 36 hours after the car was swept away.

“We are hoping that we can find the kids alive,” Bizzell said. “A lot of folks might think that’s way out there in left field. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Rescuers camped along rural Galilee Road, where a creek too small for a well-known name rose from a muddy trickle to a wall of water just before midnight Monday.

On Tuesday, searchers combed the dense woods with helicopters in the air and dogs on foot. But on Wednesday, the search shifted further downstream past where the creek flows into the Neuse.

Three boats fought powerful currents, a search dog standing at the bow.

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