The rain was torrential, the wind was bad, and trees were falling everywhere.
Those are the conditions Wilson’s Mills Fire Chief Jason Moore says his teams faced Sunday, as they tried to rescue a family of four stuck on the Neuse River.
Other WRAL Top Stories
“It definitely was not easy,” said Moore.
The family, including two young boys, launched their boats near the Fire Department Road Bridge around 6 Sunday afternoon. Barely 200 yards downstream, they called 911 as a severe storm rolled in.
“The river rose about four and a half feet,” said Moore. “We were thankful that they were not loose in the water. They were actually sitting on a bank waiting for us to pick them up and bring them back to the extraction point.”
But getting to that family was tricky. As night fell, nearly 50 first responders rolled into the scene, including four swiftwater rescue teams. Those crews were operating in torrential rain and on slick, uneven terrain with poor access.
“We actually made calls to emergency services today to see if we can't get a slip put in, possibly at the wastewater treatment facility because that is county land,” said Moore.
Conditions were so dangerous that a long line of ambulances was placed on standby, just in case.
“We knew we had at least four patients, but we also knew that we had a lot of responders that were on the water too,” said Johnston County EMS Battalion Chief Patrick Cogdell.
Cogdell says while everyone was ultimately ok, this rescue should serve as a reminder to always take precautions before getting on the water.
“Number one, try to know the area. Number two, make sure you have lights or a whistle or something like that, so if you do get stranded and you hear boats coming, you can actually blow the whistle,” Cogdell said.
“Make sure you have your life vest. Also, make sure that somebody knows where you're going, and make sure that you give them a time frame. And if you do get stranded, please call 911 as soon as possible.”
The boys and their parents were found nearly 200 yards from their initial location near the Neuse River bridge. No injuries were reported.
The Wilson’s Mills Fire Department is investigating the incident.