Two children missing after car they were in was swept into a Smithfield creek
Johnston County sheriff’s deputies suspended their search Tuesday evening after two small children were swept into a turbulent, flooded creek in Smithfield.
The children’s mother called 911 just before midnight Monday and said fast-moving water had pushed her car with her and her children inside off Galilee Road and into a nearby creek, Smithfield Fire Chief John Blanton said during a news conference Tuesday.
Rescuers were able to reach the mother and one child before the rescue boat capsized in the flood, spilling them into the creek, Blanton said. Emergency crews fought a powerful current, floating debris and low-hanging branches that flipped several boats.
In all, four rescue boats turned over in the flood, forcing firemen to flee and escape the water on foot, by grabbing thrown ropes or in other rescue boats.
The mother and emergency crews were saved, but the two children are still missing.
“These guys take their job very seriously, and it’s very emotional for them,” Blanton said. “We just pray for the family.”
The search area covers about a half-mile until the creek, too small for a well-known name, flows into the Neuse River.
Blanton stressed that the sheriff’s department is conducting a search rather than recovery. A helicopter and dogs were on the scene to assist. At about 1 p.m., more than 12 hours after the first 911 call, a tow-truck driver arrived and inspected the scene with a state trooper. Half an hour later, he left with a Ford grill.
Just past 4 pm, crews pulled a white sedan from the creek, tugging it through a muddy field with a small bulldozer.
Nancy Martinez, a family friend, said the mother was coming to see her when the car was swept of the road.
”Only during hurricanes has flooding been this bad before,” Martinez said in an interview with The News & Observer.
“I got kids, and for you to see that kind of stuff happen is really heartbreaking,” she added. “I’m hoping for the best. The last thing to lose is the faith.”
Pavement washed away
The storm took out one lane of Galilee Road, and by Tuesday morning, the water had been reduced to a muddy brown trickle. Rescue crews combed the woods along its banks, where trees had been bent over in the flood.
Nearby, on North Johnson Road, a large section of the pavement had washed away, leaving a sinkhole too big to cross. Several cars remained stranded in a ditch on N.C. 220, swamped in the storm.
Blanton said he did not know the children’s ages.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 8:13 AM.