westerly
New
We were up at Blue Springs attempting to do a rescue class this past weekend and got caught by the flash flood. The water level in the quarry was slowly rising, so we decided to move most of the cars from our group to the registration area. Unfortunately, one of our assistants moved his car up to the edge of the hillside near the changing rooms on Central Beach. He didn't feel that his PT Cruiser had enough clearance to make it through the rising water on the gravel road. No one expected the stream next to the quarry to completely overflow its banks.
No more than five minutes after we all met up at the registration shelter, water began pouring over the road and embankment behind the building. We didn't have time to get to one of our other student's car parked in the upper lot due to the rushing water. Everyone else got back in their cars and either left through the main entrance or traveled up the hillside further on the road to North Beach. The upper lot turned into a huge waterfall and raised the quarry level another 10-15 feet within an hour.
A car driving past Blue Springs on 600 tried to drive over the submerged bridge and was pushed over the edge into the stream. The two passengers had to be rescued by local authorities on zodiac boats from the trees downstream. Their dog was never found.
We finally left a few hours later once the rain stopped and the roads through Waldron cleared enough to be passable. Sunday we returned to the quarry with the owner of the PT cruiser to retrieve the belongings still in his car. The water level had dropped a few feet, and everything was still a mess. We had to nearly rappel down the hillside Cental Beach to reach his car. I took lots of pictures Sunday and have included a few for you all.
The flood Saturday was one of the most bizarre things I had ever witnessed, and hopefully I will not have to go through that again.
No more than five minutes after we all met up at the registration shelter, water began pouring over the road and embankment behind the building. We didn't have time to get to one of our other student's car parked in the upper lot due to the rushing water. Everyone else got back in their cars and either left through the main entrance or traveled up the hillside further on the road to North Beach. The upper lot turned into a huge waterfall and raised the quarry level another 10-15 feet within an hour.
A car driving past Blue Springs on 600 tried to drive over the submerged bridge and was pushed over the edge into the stream. The two passengers had to be rescued by local authorities on zodiac boats from the trees downstream. Their dog was never found.
We finally left a few hours later once the rain stopped and the roads through Waldron cleared enough to be passable. Sunday we returned to the quarry with the owner of the PT cruiser to retrieve the belongings still in his car. The water level had dropped a few feet, and everything was still a mess. We had to nearly rappel down the hillside Cental Beach to reach his car. I took lots of pictures Sunday and have included a few for you all.
The flood Saturday was one of the most bizarre things I had ever witnessed, and hopefully I will not have to go through that again.