ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — It was a harrowing call for first responders in Rowan County as flood waters rose Thursday morning -- emergency crews got a report that two young children had been swept away in a creek.
The children were found safe thanks, in part, to the quick action from rescuers.
The children’s grandfather spoke to Channel 9′s Joe Bruno about the call. He said the two children were outside in their front yard playing in some water, but their mother got worried when she couldn’t find them.
“She worried about ‘Oh my God, did the drain sweep them up?’ because they love to play in the water there,” Ray Klein told Bruno.
Fearing the worst, she called first responders worried that they got swept away in Second Creek, which runs along their 20-acre property.
(Photos: Tropical Storm Debby impacts across the Charlotte area)
‘Huge mess’: Debby leaves extensive damage
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TRACKING: Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rain, wind gusts
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Car gets stuck in water on Hawthorne Lane
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TRACKING: Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rain, wind gusts
TRACKING: Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rain, wind gusts
TRACKING: Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rain, wind gusts
Rockwell Fire and Rockwell Rural Fire responded with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Thankfully, they were able to find the children, aged 2 and 4, in some nearby woods.
“They just wandered into the woods, which they do,” Klein said.
He said he’s grateful for all of the hard work of the first responders.
“I heard it was like 50 people ... everybody was here all over the property,” Klein said.
It was a happy ending for a day full of misery as the heavy rain pummelled Rowan County.
(VIDEO: Debby brings flooding to South Carolina, Georgia)