Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 14, 1990 TAG: 9007170305
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLY
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But it's the kind of busy that he and other members of the Giles County Rescue Squad wish they could avoid.
In the past two weeks, Freeman has helped pull the bodies of two drowning victims from the rapid and dangerous Shumate Falls section of the river.
But here's the part that really scares Freeman:
Both times when rescue crews were dragging the river for the bodies, people continued swimming around the area and watching them - "even young kids," Freeman said.
"They just don't take the river seriously, I guess," he said. "It's been going on for years."
It's been going on for years up and down the New River Valley - in Pulaski County, near Bissett Park, and Radford University in Radford, at McCoy Falls in Montgomery County and at Shumate Falls near Glen Lyn.
Both victims at Shumate Falls were from West Virginia.
A 17-year-old youth drowned when he developed leg cramps while swimming across the river and was pulled under by the current. The other man, age 44, was fishing on a rock ledge in the middle of the river when he slipped and fell 20 feet below the surface.
Two other drownings have been reported on the river this year.
The body of a 14-year-old West Virginian was found by two fishermen July 6 at Shanklins Ferry where the river enters West Virginia. That same day, a Radford woman's body was found by fishermen in Whitethorne in Montgomery County.
Most rescue officials say the problem is that people lack respect for the river's dangers and fail to take precautions. Also, unlike predictable natural tides, the dangerous rapidly rising levels of the river are controlled by computer when Appalachian Power Co. needs more flow through Claytor Lake Dam.
"You need to have some respect for that river - plain common sense and respect. If you don't, it'll get you," said Radford Fire Chief Calvin Whitt.
Whitt said the floor of the river is booby trapped with sink holes, rock ledges and undertows.
"A lot of them [drownings] are uncalled for, if people would just use their heads," Glen Lyn Fire Chief Doug Farewell said. "People take a risk."
Drinking alcohol on the river is a risk people on the river should know about, but many ignore it. "Don't be intoxicated," Whitt said.
People need to stay sober to be aware of one of the biggest dangers on the river - the ever-changing water level, which can rise up to five feet within minutes when water from the dam is released.
"Once they release that water, it comes up and you don't realize it's coming up on you," Whitt said. "It happens before you know it."
About two months ago, a Radford crew had to rescue a person who was stranded at one of the spots that's surrounded by water when the river rises.
Quickly rising levels also are a problem at McCoy Falls, where many Tech students bask in the sun on rocks that span the river. When the water rises, some of rocks are submerged and sunbathers can be cut off from the shore.
Rescue workers already have been called a few times to retrieve someone who is stranded.
Signs have been put up at McCoy Falls warning people of rapidly changing water levels.
Apco spokesman Ed Mahler said the release of the water from the dam, which is owned by the power company, is so unpredictable that people swimming or boating on the river need to be constantly aware.
"It can rise fairly quickly with very little notice," Mahler said. "You don't have a lot of warning."
Mahler said the dam releases at different times and for different reasons. Sometimes it releases because Claytor Lake has reached a peak level. Other times it does so when the company needs to generate electricity by running water through the dam's turbines, he said.
"There's no set time that it releases. We don't want people thinking they can bank on the system," Mahler said.
Mahler said since computers monitor the dam, water can be released any time, day or night. The only precaution people can take is to constantly be on guard.
Whitt warns that people in boats should always wear a lifejacket and shouldn't overload a boat.
Farewell also said people on the New River should know the "dead man's float."
If people get sucked down by heavy currents, they should just try to relax their bodies and allow themselves to float to the top rather than fight it.
"The more you try to fight it, the worse you're going to get," he said.
by CNB