GPS steers family into roads flooded by Haw River, man rescues them

Yahoo

08-07-2025

HAW RIVER, N.C. (WGHP) — The Haw River rose quickly Sunday night in the wake of Tropical Storm Chantal, and it took many people by surprise.
As major roads like the interstate had water flowing over them, navigation systems started suggesting people take alternate routes, but those routes weren't safe either.
A family from South Africa traveling to Virginia followed an alternate route down Stone Street Extension, which is a dark, rural two-lane road right over the Haw River.
If it weren't for the help of a man who saw them at the right time, they would have been washed into the river.
'We had to make a detour… I never come this way. You don't want to use the words 'divine intervention', but why not?' said Mebane native Bryan Roney.
Roney, taking an alternate route himself, knew it wasn't safe to go over the bridge.
'I was attempting to turn around and saw two cars coming this way,' Roney said.
He knew the cars were stalled and knew he had to act fast.
He got to a man with a little girl first. The man was in shock, gripping his steering wheel.
'I said, 'You got to listen to me. You're fixing to die,'' said Roney.
He got them out of the car, and the family of four in the other car.
'The only thing I had was my log chain, so we all grabbed onto this log chain,' he said.
And the Haw River nipped at their knees.
'Hold onto this rail, so we held on. We had the chain in one hand, rail in the other,' he said.
As the water was rising on the bridge, neighbors in a mobile home park on the riverbank were terrified.
'I looked out, and my entire front steps was floating away,' Kenneth Saum said.
Nearby, one trailer was half underwater.
Saum checked on his neighbors closest to the river and got devastating news.
'They ended up losing a dog that was still outside,' he said.
As daylight broke, waterlines, tree leaves coated in river mud and the washed-out cars were visible. The cars were hauled out Monday afternoon and were total losses.
They have their lives and some new clothes.
'I said, 'Let's go to my house.' I called my wife to get some towels ready, and I had a lot of extra shirts, so now that family is all dressed in triathlon shirts, and a family member came from South Boston [Virginia] to pick them up,' Roney said.
Roney said the entire ordeal is a good reminder not to depend on GPS in a storm and to back up if you see water over the road, and he's very grateful he was able to help.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.