On Sunday afternoon, authorities identified the Franklin County man who drowned Saturday in the Blackwater River just north of Rocky Mount.

Chris Odum, 38, of Union Hall became trapped in turbulent waters after the canoe he was riding in capsized near a dam by U.S. 220 about 2 p.m., said Lt. Karl Martin, district supervisor for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' conservation police.

Odum and the three other occupants of the canoe were wearing life vests, Martin said.

Water levels were unusually high and currents were strong because of heavy rain late last week, Martin said. According to the National Weather Service, parts of Franklin County reported between 2 and 5 inches of rainfall Thursday and Friday.

A paid obituary in today's Roanoke Times said Odum was an "avid outdoorsman who loved hunting, fishing and especially 'floating the river.'"

"This is just a tragic accident," Martin said. "Even the most knowledgeable canoers can have problems when they get in an area that has changed due to heavy rainfall."