COLLETTSVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Heavy rains that caused power outages and flash floods in western North Carolina were blamed for the deaths of a 10-year-old girl and 48-year-old man who were swept away while swimming in a rural creek.
The victims were from two Charlotte-area families who were swimming in a usually calm pool section of Wilson Creek that's nearly 100 miles north of Charlotte.
They were identified as Juan Alberdi of Huntersville and Delilah Lovett of Charlotte. Alberdi and his two children and a friend and her two children visited the creek to swim Saturday evening, Caldwell County officials said in a prepared statement Sunday. Alberdi and Lovett "were immediately swept away in the swift currents," officials said.