Irene Villano, 18, told news outlets they had not seen any signs warning of the 8-foot (2-meter) high Duke Energy dam when they heard water rushing. “We thought it was just a bump in the river, you know we’d go down,” Villano told WGHP-TV. “We wanted to hold onto her so bad, but we just had to let her go,” Villano told WRAL-TV. Irene Villano is on crutches because of deep scrapes on her feet. “Our hearts go out to the family,” Bill Norton of Duke Energy told WXLV-TV.

Source: ABC News June 23, 2021 17:37 UTC