SMITHFIELD, N.C. — Two men were rescued late Thursday night after their canoe capsized in Johnston County hours earlier.

A man and his adult son were fishing on the Neuse River when the canoe capsized. They were able to call family members with a cell phone to get help.

Deputies say the weather made tracking them difficult. Rescuers even lost contact with them for a while.

"The weather and the river conditions, and course, there's always a problem with the rough terrain down where they're at and a real rural area. That's the area where we were looking at them at," said Capt. Buck Pipkin of the Johnston County Sheriff's Office.

Crews told the men to hold on to a tree limb until rescue boats could find them.