Sheriff: Drownings in Derwent did not have to happen

Drownings in Derwent did not have to happen
Greg Parks

Tuesday, September 14 2004
The Jeffersonian

Sheriff Mike McCauley is worried, and only a fool could fault him.

After all, death came to his county last weekend in the most inexplicable of contexts.

Against all reason, a motorist tried to drive through floodwaters.

The car washed away.

Two drowned.

McCauley said he can’t stress this enough:

Flash floods and automobiles do not mix.

Why people don’t get the message and continue to drive or walk into moving water perplexes the sheriff.

“I continue to hear people say it’s OK to drive through high water if you can still see the center line,” McCauley said. “But just a foot of fast-moving water can carry a car away.”

Today, Hurricane Ivan bears down on the Gulf Coast.

Sheriff McCauley knows from experience that flooding from hurricanes and tropical storms is a serious threat to life and property even way up here in the Midwest, hundreds of miles from the eye of the storm.

Guernsey County was brutally reminded of that truth last week when what was left of Hurricane Frances came calling with torrential rains.

“We’d been warned for two weeks,” the sheriff said. “People who live here ought to know this area is flood-prone and they should be prepared for power outages and road closings.”

He recommends the basics: Water, food and medicines for a few days and battery or generator power for when the electricity goes out.

McCauley and his deputies worked heroically during the height of the flood on search and rescue missions.

An airboat donated to the county by the local Eagles lodge proved to be a godsend.

Each year floods kill more people than hurricanes, tornadoes or lightning.

According to the National Weather Service, 80 percent of flooding deaths result when people drive or walk into moving water.

This behavior often results in outcomes so grim that the NWS and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes two years ago launched a program called “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”

McCauley said that even though there have been remarkable advances in flood forecasts and warnings, these improvements mean nothing if people ignore them.

Time and again the sheriff sees people who had plenty of warning about the danger, but still drive around barriers into floodwaters.

Some of them ruin their cars.

Some of them die.

With Hurricane Ivan churning toward landfall, McCauley said he is worried about this weekend.

“Last week, the ground wasn’t saturated and look what happened,” he said. “Now the ground is saturated, which would make matters even worse. Plus, Frances packed heavy rain and not the powerful winds of Ivan. We could be looking at flooding and downed power lines.”

The sheriff said he’ll try to put his best face forward during the Guernsey County Fair this week, but he’ll be preoccupied with an eye and an ear on the weather forecast, praying that this time he’s crying wolf.