In the roaring waters of the gorges in the Potomac River above Washington, as many as nine people drowned in accidents each year during the 1990s.
Yet in 2005, there were no accidental deaths, though a few people did take their own lives in the Potomac River, and the annual averages have sunk to two or three deaths.
The change came after a spike of drowning deaths in the gorges.
The National Park Service and local agencies began working to improve coordination when it comes to pulling hikers and swimmers out of the river.
Swift Water rescue team members have a dark shorthand for many of these hikers and rock hoppers — “job security.”
“Paddlers usually travel in groups. They look after each other,” said Master Firefighter Clark Oliver.
Rope climbers on the Virginia shore have their own safety standards, he said as his colleagues trained on ropes strung across one channel of the river. It’s the casual day-trippers and immigrant families fishing for food that more often fall into the violent whitewater or get swept away when the river surges.
“The park is becoming a bigger draw,” said fire and rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer. “At the same time, I think our response capabilities are getting better.”
Wednesday, the Park Service drilled rescue workers from Montgomery and Fairfax counties, which border the Potomac River Gorge. The gorge channels the broad river into a 20- to 50-yard swath of deep swirling rapids.
Before setting his whitewater kayak into the river, instructorNathan Nakhikian said he was glad to have the rescue teams. “They’re pretty good. They get a call and they’re out there pretty fast,” he said.
Ideally you don’t need their help, he said, but even “good kayakers get in trouble, because maybe they didn’t pay attention to the weather report,” Nakhikian said.
“You’re challenging the river. You’re challenging yourself. You’re making a lot of judgements,” he said.
Great Falls by the numbers
» Total 76-foot drop in elevation across one mile
» The Potomac River narrows from nearly 1000 feet to as little as 60 feet in Mather Gorge.
» The depth of the gorge is not known.
Source: National Park Service
