Hurricane Wave Sweeps Spectators Out to Sea (in Maine)

[steven johnson]

Source: Associated Press

Published: August 23, 2009
Filed at 6:53 p.m. ET

EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) -- A large wave fueled by Hurricane Bill swept spectators out to sea at a Maine park Sunday as the storm-churned surf attracted onlookers and daredevils along the Eastern Seaboard.

A man, a woman and a 7-year-old girl were pulled from the sea near Acadia National Park, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Shane Coxon said, and rescue crews were searching for others believed to be lost in the waves.

''This is absolutely the effects of Hurricane Bill'' coupled with the effect of high tide, park ranger Sonya Berger said.

The three rescued in Maine were part of an early afternoon crowd of thousands who lined the national park's rocky shoreline to watch the high surf and crashing waves.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/23/us/AP-Tropical-Weather.html

---

Forces of nature are not to be triffled with. The waves were running 10 to 12 feet high with 25-knot winds along the coast and the water was 55 degrees.

[Chemisse]

1. Jesus - that is horrific!

That said, I sure wished I had time today to drive to the seacoast and look at the waves.

[saigon68]

39. Its the DARWIN PRINCIPLE

That said however WTF is a 7 year old doing there?

[Libertas1776]

2. For crap's sake

people, stay the heck away from the water. Sure the big waves are cool to look at, but I prefer to do said via the Weather Channel. A lot safer and drier.

[glinda]

18. My words exactly! Stupid.

[jpak]

3. I've been to Acadia when they've had hurricane swell - it was terrifying to behold

...and the Park Service should have closed access to Thunder Hole under those conditions....

[chicago legal pro]

7. Sure, blame it on the government

We don't want to have any personal responsibility do we?

[Th1onein]

11. How do you choose between "people should take personal responsibility"

and "the government can't do anything right" arguments?

Just wondering.

[chicago legal pro]

28. I was replying to the "government can't do anything right" poster

In case you were wondering.

[Th1onein]

38. No one said that the government can't do anything right.

They said that they should have closed the park. That's a far cry from "the government can't do anything right."

[Gormy Cuss]

14. Personal responsibility? Have you ever been to Thunder Hole?

a)The attraction involves walking out onto the end of a cliff on a walkway with guardrails. Normally that's good enough for the small amount of splash back but when the sea is rough it's pretty easy for people and the decking to get drenched. A wet deck is a slippery deck for people without the proper footwear -- you know, people like tourists who've never seen the ocean before.

b) In the summer the number of Acadia visitors who are completely ignorant of the ocean is pretty high. They don't know enough to understand the danger.

c)It's in a National Park. One of the things rangers do is steer tourists away from dangers caused by weather phenomena. I've been cautioned off mountain tops because of approaching lightening storms, for example.

[FailureToCommunicate]

20. Right. We've been warned off trails because of a fallen tree (!!) Rangers should

have probably closed the access in this case.

[KoKo]

22. Bush decimated the staff at National Parks...Obama hasn't had time to restore them...but

I was a tourist at Acadia National Park long ago...and remember "Thunder Hole." At that time the waters were calm...but it was still scarey.

Acadia National Park at that time had the most incredibly helpful rangers of any of the National Parks we'd been to. It's possible they are so short staffed they just didn't think...

[chicago legal pro]

29. I love 20/20 hindsight from people who weren't there

[FailureToCommunicate]

52. Or didn't know the whole story. Now we do: stupid (now heartbroken) parents

Sounds like the Rangers had done about all they could have.

[dalvay]

32. They DID close the access

Thunder Hole had a large steel barricade preventing people from walling down to the shore. It is the stupid people who went around the barricade!

[crim son]

33. I haven't been there in a while, but isn't it more like a steel fence/railing

sort of setup? Not that I'd blame the park for this death; I'm just wondering. I've been there many times and even with a small surge I find the waves a bit scary. Having a seven-year-old on the rocks during a storm surge is irresponsible to say the least, but the poor parents have payed the ultimate price. I'm sad for them.

[dalvay]

34. it is a steel fence barricade as shown like this...

this is the steel fence barricade as shown in winter...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zM0DEGCyW4&feature=related

[crim son]

49. Thanks for posting that.

It's sort of what I remember. I do know my ex-husband easily ignored it and went out to sit on the rocks when we were last there as a family. I feel so badly about the little girl.

[Gormy Cuss]

37. Where did you hear that it was people going around the barricade?

Neither the BDN nor the Ptld Press Herald are reporting that. Both stories now make it sound as if it happened near, not at, Thunder Hole. There were apparently thousands of people all along Ocean Drive and the shore in that area watching the surf.

It's good to hear that the rangers closed off access because they're usually pretty cautious about that walkway. I've been there when the gate was shut because of high winds.



eta: Welcome to DU, dalvay.

[MaineDem]

44. Channel 8 news said the viewing platform was closed

Reporter said people were sitting on the rocks next to Thunder Hole.

They said the wave was 20 feet high.

[Gormy Cuss]

53. Thanks, MaineDem.

That was one monster sneaker wave. Unfortunately I can understand how people who aren't familiar with the ocean would feel safe high up on the rocks. Me, I'd be on the other other side of the road with binoculars. Years ago a friend of mine drowned in the same way, watch surfing on a rock ten feet above the surf during a storm.

[Chemisse]

41. I suspect they had a false sense of security

It said a lot of people just stood there when the waves splashed them.

[liberal N proud]

47. Speaking of Park Rangers and stupid tourist, the same goes in Yellowstone

There are numerous reports every year of someone getting gored or trampled by the bison because the didn't heed the warnings and approached the furry creature for a better picture.

Geysers and hot springs are a another feature the rangers warn people to stay a safe distance from. And the safe distance is always clearly marked, yet some moron will get scalded because they had to walk right up to the edge.

The rangers do everything they can but people think they are smarter than the ranger.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. I agree. Thunder Hole is too dangerous with waves like that.

Add to that the fact that many of the people visiting Acadia in August are tourists, many unfamiliar with the ocean, and it's just asking for trouble.

I grew up on the coast and no way would I get anywhere near the shore or a cliff edge) during a storm surge. That's just nuts.

[GreenPartyVoter]

55. It's terrible what happened. My parents taught us early on that you don't go

anywhere near the water when the waves are like that. But I think people who come here and visit or who aren't used to being around the ocean just don't know what a monster it really is, so they underestimate the safety precautions needed when viewing that kind of surf.

[woodsprite]

45. According to CG this a.m., the viewing platform was closed. They walked out on the rocks. n/t

[eShirl]

4. WCSH (NBC-Portland, ME) reporting 5 people

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/breaking/story.aspx?storyid=108408&catid=112


ACADIA NATIONAL PARK (NEWS CENTER) -- A dispatcher at Acadia National Park said 5 people have been swept out to sea, while watching the huge waves caused by Hurricane Bill Sunday.

Sonya Berger said 2 of those people have been rescued, but 3 people are currently lost. All of them were standing close to the surf at Thunder Hole.

We will have more information on this story as soon as it becomes available.

[Gman]

5. They don't understand about hurricanes like we do on the Gulf Coast

[eShirl]

6. nope, they're usually quite weakened by the time they reach up this way. n/t

[FailureToCommunicate]

19. Well...except in 1938, 1954, and oh yeah, Hurricane G-l-o-r-i-a. The news has been saying

for a while stay away from the coastal danger zones, rip currents, etc.

[eShirl]

25. Right. "U-s-u-a-l-l-y." n/t

[FailureToCommunicate]

51. I spelled it out 'cause that was what the kids were singing as they left the island

on the last ferry out before GLORIA was due to hit us. (It plowed up the Conn. River valley insted) The kids were singing the 60's hit song by Van Morrison. Sorry if it came across any other way...

[TheMadMonk]

9. Not Don't. Won't. nt

[intheflow]

13. Not true.

New England gets a lot of hurricane remnants which, though they don't wipe out entire towns like Gulf storms, they do do a LOT of damage, knocking down trees and flooding towns and eroding coastline. I think it's far more likely a scenario as another poster suggested above: these were probably tourists who are unfamiliar with the ocean. Anyone who lives on a Coast knows not to get too close to waves when the water is whipped up like that. And locals especially wouldn't get too close to that Thunder Hole. It's potentially deadly in the calmest of weather at high tide.

[Blue_Tires]

46. clearly...

I'm in VA, and when something big and ugly comes rolling in, the LAST thing on my mind is "Let's go down to the waterfront and see how huge the waves are!!"

[eShirl]

8. comments: "I watched the Weather Channel last night and the reporter actually advised people to go t

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/117347.html
"I watched the Weather Channel last night and the reporter actually advised people to go to Thunder Hole to watch the Surf!! Could not believe it!!!"

horrible if true

[Dr.Phool]

26. It's true. I watched it.

[dalvay]

35. Yes!

They urged to go and watch yes that is true but common sense to stay behind the barricade NOT go on the rocks!
If I were close I would have gone to see those waves, BUT from the safe area on the roadway! I think they assume common sense but should have known better!

[Chemisse]

42. Ouch. He must be eating his words right about now. - nt

[MaineDem]

10. Everyone's been rescued.

No word on their condition, though.

[MaineDem]

15. The 7-year old has died.

Sad.

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Poor child.

Her parents were swept out with her according to the Press Herald.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=278670&ac=PHnws

[DesertDiamond]

16. A teacher in high school told us in the 50s our entire town went to the coast to watch a tidal wave

come in. I thought he was joking. No one would do that, right? Guess I was wrong. So sad.

(Fortunately for our town, the tidal wave never showed up.)

[leftyladyfrommo]

50. Was that in Alaska?

I remember something about a lot of people going down to watch the tidal wave. I think it was in Alaska but I could be wrong.

[TheCowsCameHome]

21. The sea has awesome and unpredictable power.

People do not always understand that.

[JeanGrey]

23. How stupid was this? That poor child, whose parents

I guess drug her there. Good grief....................

[NBachers]

24. It can happen on any coast, at any time

Here in San Francisco, every year or so, unsuspecting people at water's edge are swept away by an unexpected wave and never seen again. I can remember several cases where kids were playing on the beach or being photographed against the ocean backdrop and just washed away with no warning.

[Xithras]

27. NEVER turn your back to the ocean.

My parents taught me that the first time we visited the beach, and drilled it in until I was old enough to move out.

In the late 80's I was tidepooling at Natural Bridges near Santa Cruz Ca, at low tide when a huge wave came out of nowhere and swept over all the rocks, slamming into the base of the cliffs above. I held on because I saw it coming. Three people weren't watching and were pulled into the water. None drowned, but one of the guys was rescued more than a half mile offshore. The only difference between them and I was the fact that I was watching the sea in the background.

[paulsby]

30. i used to LIVE for east coast hurricane surf

when i lived there I literally salivated over every one. hurricane surf is dangerous, but phenomenal for surfing.

i;m glad they were rescued.

i snapped two surfboards during one hurricane surf session. glad i had a 3rd.

[dalvay]

31. Common Sense Lacking- Not to Blame the Park Service!

Just 3 weeks ago we visited Acadia and visited Thunder Hole. If you have never been there, thunder hole has a walkway with railings and steps going down to the hole, on calm days it is rather boring as very little splashes. I would have to say I would have been one of those 10,000 to view the large waves if I were there today. I saw on the park service website they had the entrance to thunder hole CLOSED and had a gate as a warning not to go down the steps, this would keep visitors on the pathways parallel to the ocean for safety and near the car roadway.
I would imagine the visitors went below the blocked entrance to thunder hole, as the barricade only blocks the steps not the miles of rocky coast surrounding it. It is up to the visitor to use common sense and stay back. I would bet the park rangers were urging all to use caution today. It is impossible for the rangers to be everywhere in the park and had the necessary barricades up for protection but they are not at fault for those who passed over the barricade.
On our visit at Thunder Hole this summer I watched as a teenage boy was walking on rocks above thunder hole and then went over the guard rail. My husband yelled at him asking where the parents were, and then say that they were on the other side of the guard rail as well, then they yelled at my husband to "mind his own business"! There are just some really STUPID people in this world.
So now the government will no doubt have many meetings, committees, about this and then determine that they maybe should have closed the park that day. Or maybe they should build a fence around the whole park ocean access, yeah right!
I saw at other websites people have been very close to the ocean, one closed beach I observed kids dangerously close the ocean, one large wave and they would have been in trouble.
I think this is just a case of people not using extreme caution and getting too close to the waves, not understanding the force of the ocean.
The park service does a great job in educating about the force of the ocean, and at the visitor center there is a film showing the force of the waves at Acadia.
I think closing the park during these times is not fair to the rest of the visitors who can observe at a safe distance.
This eerily reminds me of the bears at Yellow Stone and the people who have been killed and injured feeding them, although signs are posted NO feeding bears!
People will be curious and stupid!

[dalvay]

36. On the website you mentioned do you see 2 stupid kids>>

From the website you mentioned...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/23/us/AP-Tropical-Weather.html?_r=1
It is showing a picture of the waves and 2 kids very close-how stupid!

[saigon68]

40. Big Waves

[Chemisse]

43. I say stupid parents - the poor kids don't understand - nt

[liberal N proud]

48. Here is a video of Thunder Hole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrTYbdDDtrE

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

54. I've worked as a ranger in a state park

You can warn people a zillion times about staying away from the water when a dangerous storm is passing offshore, and they simply DO NOT LISTEN. Just give you a ration of bullshit about their rights, government interference, stop acting like a mom/dad, laughing at you for being an over-reacting dork.

My answer has often been very simple to the louder ones. If you get knocked in the water and start to get swept away, do you want the government to interfere then?