SMITHFIELD, N.C. (WNCN) – Two children are missing after their mother’s vehicle was swept away in floodwaters near Smithfield Monday night, according to Johnston County emergency officials.
There was a rescue in the 500-block of Galilee Road around 11:30 p.m. that involved a woman and her two children, officials said. The mother was rescued when her car was impacted by flooded roads and went off into a wooded area, according to officials.
Two children are currently unaccounted for.
Smithfield, Wilson Mills, Princeton, and Four Oaks fire departments responded to the mother’s 911 call.
Crews from Four Oaks used boats for the rescue and were able to grab a child and the mother, but the boat capsized and they lost the child, officials said at a press conference. They were able to grab the mother and bring her to safety, but the child was gone.
During the efforts to find the children crews lost four boats.
Officials said they located the mother’s vehicle but the children were not inside.
Search efforts are continuing and they will be flying a helicopter once the fog lifts over a specific half-mile area and the Neuse River.
Although rescue crews lost four boats, no first responders were injured. The mother was taken to the hospital.
Multiple roads in Johnston County are either flooded or washed out, emergency officials said.
A hydrograph from the National Weather Service shows how quickly the Neuse River in Smithfield swelled to minor flood stage.
CBS 17 has a crew at the scene and this story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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