A total of 215 female juvenile rafters were all accounted for Monday night after searchers spent four hours making sure no one was missing in the raging waters of the Lehigh River.

At least 46 rafters were in distress and had to be rescued by emergency workers, Lehighton fire Chief Patrick Mriss said.

Mriss said the girls were part of a camp on a rafting trip organized by Nesquehoning-based Whitewater Rafting Adventures. The Times-News of Lehighton reported the girls were members of a New York-based church camp.

A search began when someone noticed an empty raft at Bowmanstown -- a borough along the Lehigh River between Lehighton and Walnutport -- about 5:40 p.m. Monday. A passerby is believed to have called 911.

A whole bunch of rafts later were found to be caught up in trees, with Mriss saying there were eight girls to a raft.

He said one girl was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, but he didn't know the extent of her injuries.

There were conflicting reports during the search as to specifically just how many rafters were missing due to guides being scattered throughout the river, Mriss said.

"Until we got a good firm count, we weren't sure how many people were still missing," he said.

The search was mostly south of the Route 209 Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge and spanned the portion of the river near Jim Thorpe and Lehighton in Carbon County, Mriss said. A total of seven rescue teams from Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon and Schuylkill counties responded.

The scene was cleared by about 10:30 p.m. when the rafting company advised all the campers were accounted for.

"Everyone's safe," Mriss said.

Firefighters and rescue personnel with the Lehighton Fire Department return from a massive water rescue of boaters stranded Aug. 13, 2018, on the Lehigh River in the area of the Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge (Route 209) in the Carbon County borough. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)

In addition to Lehighton, fire companies sent boats and water rescue personnel from neighboring Franklin Township, Ryan Township in Schuylkill County, Fullerton and Cementon in Whitehall Township, Northampton and Walnutport.

Pennsylvania State Police sent one helicopter from Reading to assist in the rescue, and the National Guard sent two from Fort Indiantown Gap, Mriss said.

Widespread flooding from heavy rains in eastern Pennsylvania had created dangerous conditions throughout Monday on the region's roads and waterways. A motorist earlier in the day had to be rescued from a vehicle stranded in water in Lower Macungie Township.

Reporter Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.