Flash Flood at a campground. (Very Sad)

Red Cross estimates that there were 300 or more people there during the flash flood. The exact number of people there won't be known for some time as the campground registration log was lost in the flood. Supposedly more than 40 people remain unaccounted for. Sixty people were rescued at last account with another twentyfour hospitalized. One body was recovered eight miles downstream. Rescue efforts were called off at about 9 PM and are to begin again this morning. Portable cell towers and sat-phones are being brought in to aid searchers and possibly allow stranded survivors to call for help... there is no cell service there.

The figure "eight feet of rise" is just an indication of the speed of the flood. The USGS river guage just downstream of the campground which normally reads 3 feet (as it did at midnight) recorded a peak of 23.39 feet. Seven and a half inches of rain fell overnight causing both the Caddo and Little Missouri to flood.
 
Members of the Arkansas Canoe Club who are trained in EMS and swiftwater rescue are on their way there now if the authorities will give them the go-ahead to begin a downstream search.

I know a lot of these people and, the gauge reading this morning of five feet is well within their experience and capabilities. These folks are far better equipped for this task than the government agencies onsite.

Hopefully the agencies will concede and allow these volunteers to conduct the search for survivors and bodies.

The area below the campground is very remote with limited access. Helecopters can only do just so much searching among the strainers and overhead canopy.
 
Other than just not going, there are some conditions and scenarios that you just can't plan for.

Prayers for those that lost their lives, and for their families..........
 
What a tragedy. Who wouldnt feel safe at a campground? That could have easily been me and my family.
 
Yes, while it was somewhat remote, it was an established, developed campground in the Ouchita National Forest with motorhome spaces, paved roads, electricity, bathrooms and over fifty tent spaces with a store/HQ and Rangers on hand. Camping was also allowed off site, and IIRC, it is a lot of those people who are among the missing. 14 of the 16 bodies recovered so far have been identified, some children among them.

ETA: A seventeenth body had been recovered by searchers, as yet unidentified.

ETA: An eighteenth body has been recovered now. Quite a few are still known to be missing. The water is dropping, and the search/recovery will continue tomorrow. Possibly for weeks as the water continues to fall and strainers which are now submerged can be searched.

This campground has been in existance for many years and never has anything of this magnitude happened. There is no one at fault in this tragedy. No one could have done anything to prevent it. A stalled storm system from Texas dumped nearly eight inches of water in the two watersheds in a very short time, in the middle of the night, during a prime vacation time. National Weather Servicce didn't know it was going to happen and neither did the National Forest Rangers. An off duty Arkansas State Trooper was among the survivors. Their first warnings were from other campers but by then it was too late. Ankle deep water was waist deep in under a minute. Prayers for the survivors and their lost loved ones, and for the people involved in the recovery operation. Many of those still missing are young children. Some of those known dead were parents attempting to rescue them from the flood waters.
 
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Wow, they just said on the news that over 70 people are still missing. That's terrible. The people that were off site are bad enough, but that's pretty messed up that established sites and even cabins were built in this area. Like Esav said, you never know when this is going to be the year that will set a new 100yr flood level.
 
And look at the flow rate. That stream must have really spread out big time across its floodplain. We're talking a flowing water depth potentially of about 19 feet (3x the height of a man) on a stream that usually has a couple feet of flow depth. Have any of you ever tried to cross a fast flowing stream or river with water only waist deep? It will pick you right off your feet and then you're swimming if you are not careful.
 
Bad news for sure. Makes you think on how to be more prepared. Where to camp, 4x4 if possible. Pick up your gear when done with it and pack it away to make a fast exit easier. If bad weather, a firewatch through the night. Have a meeting site for your family should things go wrong.
 
A nineteenth body was recovered today from a debris pile. Officials now believe that three or fewer people are still confirmed as missing.

Yes, it gives one pause to think of similar, though not nearly so disasterous close calls over one's lifetime in that area. More than once I've been awakened by rising water and had to move camp. But never have I seen this kind of flash flood rise in so short of a time.

A lot of camping along the Ozark and Ouchita streams is done on gravel bars beside or actually in the river or close along the adjacent banks. 99.9% of the time there is no problem with extreme rises in the water level overnight. 1982 was the last time I had a problem there (nearly thirty years ago), and while it was a record flood, it did not compare to this disaster. IIRC, there was no loss of life, only property damage.

This is the Highway 14 bridge in 1982 just before the river crest of 82 feet. When it crested as I was driving across in my Jeep, water was flowing a foot deep over the road surface.

smsmsh.jpg


This is the same bridge at normal water level.

2ptntpy.jpg
 
i feel for the families of those who died. 8' rise in 1 hour is a HELL of a lot of water to come gushing down a canyon at you.

i live in outback Australia and i would never camp in a creek bed, even if we were in teh grip of a drought.
 
Codger, those are some amazing pictures. You see flood pictures, but you seldom have a perspective to compare it to. Is that the Buffalo River?
 
22-rimfire said:
Codger, those are some amazing pictures. You see flood pictures, but you seldom have a perspective to compare it to. Is that the Buffalo River?
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Yes, Buffalo National River Arkansas. When I went there in 1982 (to canoe), I started at the old Gilbert Store and worked my way upstream. The river was lapping the porch of the store and a barn across the road had floated off it's foundation. Every access was posted by the Rangers. I finally wound up canoing the "Hailstone" section at the very headwater of the Buffalo above Boxley. It was running about class IV there. That section drops 33 to 50 feet per mile over it's 13.6 miles.

http://southwestpaddler.com/docs/buffalo6.html
 
Officials plan to continue reduced searching for some time yet, but a 20th body was recovered today, supposedly the last confirmed missing person, a young girl. Confirmation awaits DNA and dental matching.

ACC Swiftwater Rescue volunteers deserve a special kudos for their efforts. I only wish they could have been deployed sooner, rather than being held back for unfounded safety concerns. In the end though, it made no difference since no living survivors were found after mid-day Friday.

Arkansas Canoe Club members are now seeking a way to become listed as first responders for such incidents. Among them are some of the most competent kayakers and canoists in the nation, very experienced in swiftwater rescue. No one knows these rivers in all their moods, can read currents and set up rescues like these people, and among them are physicians, EMTs, and pro-boaters who can and do boat safely on water much more powerful than encountered after the initial flood surge. I've paddled with some of them as far back as the early 1970's and would (have) trust my life to them and their expertise.
 
I learned today that some surviving family members have filed suit over the deaths attributed to the flooding.

Suit filed against US over fatal Albert Pike flood
By ArkansasOnline

Family members of three campers killed in the 2010 flood at the Albert Pike Recreational Area have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S., claiming negligence by the Forest Service.

The suit, Roeder et al v. United States of America, was filed on Aug. 4, 2011, in the U.S. District Court Western District of Arkansas.

The June 11, 2010, flash flood of the Little Missouri River at the campground in western Arkansas killed 20 people, including Esther Kay, Bruce and Deborah Roeder.

Tara Roeder, the daughter of Bruce and Deborah Roeder, and Theresa Roeder, the daughter of Esther Kay Roeder, filed the lawsuit on behalf of their family members. Attorneys Jim Freeman, Melody Piazza and Ashlie Merchant with Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. are representing the families.

The lawsuit alleges that employees and agents of the U.S. Forest Service made no attempt to warn the campers of the dangerous nature of the river.

The suit also claims that Loop D, which sustained the worst of the flooding where the campers died, should not have been built because it was in a flood plain, something the Forest Service knew.

The lawsuit seeks damages for the physical injuries and deaths of the three Roeders and the grief and mental anguish of the surviving family members...
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http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/aug/25/suit-filed-against-us-over-fatal-albert-pike-flood/

How does this relate to "Wilderness Skills And Survival"? The incident itself, and now this lawsuit, raise the question of personal liability vs. the responsibilities of administering agencies and their personel in the construction and operation of developed campgrounds. The USFS at the direction of the parent agency, USDA, was directed to submit an in-depth report of the incident. It may be read here in PDF format.

While no one invloved (campers, USFS personel) could possibly fortell such an event unfolding, one is left with the question, how much responsibility are we, the public, willing to take, expected to take upon ourselves when visiting our Nation's wilderness areas, National Parks and National Forests? How far does the Agencies' responsibility go in insuring a reasonable standard of safety? The surviving family members in this case feel, apparently, that the USFS personel made gross errors in construction and administration that cost their family members their lives. What do you think? Do we want all dangerous areas of our wild lands to be placed off limits to the public? Do we expect to hold them responsible when things go bad out there?
 
Codger_64 said:
What do you think? Do we want all dangerous areas of our wild lands to be placed off limits to the public?
Click to expand...

I'd think that there are more than 2 choices there. In between placing the land off limits to the public & building a campground I mean. I would normally think that official campgrounds are sensibly located in fairly safe places and that heading into the bush and camping in a spot you choose yourself involves more risk and requires more knowledge and consideration to potential dangers.
 
This is really a sad thing for the people who passed away and their families. On one hand we can't always expect "the government" to insulate us from the world we live in for the sake of safety, we need to put on our big-boy-pants and use some common sense. On the other hand, it seems perfectly reasonable to put our trust (to a degree) in the hands of people that supposedly know better than we do. I think it's important to educate people on the dangers, not remove them from the dangers.
 
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