![]() The all-volunteer team said it was a proud moment to help a family in need and that they felt like all their hard training paid off. The rescue operation was successful and everyone was carried to safety. “It kind of took on like it was my own child and just wanted to keep her safe and want to hold her close.” “It was special for me because I do have a daughter that same age and so just holding her and getting her across,” Ballantyne said. The rescue team made sure that as they transported the children that they didn’t even touch the raging waters below them. “She was really cold, shivering, and really nervous.” “The team pulled me across and brought me the four-year-old female,” Ballantyne explained. They then tried to make it seem like an adventure for the kids so that they wouldn’t be afraid. The scenic drive does have multiple washes and areas that flash floods can and have occurred. “If that father would have tried to carry his 2-year-old, 4-year-old, and 6-year-old across there was no way it was going to have a good ending to that story.”īallantyne and Rushton said rescuers took the mom across first so that the kids would have a parent on each side. Visitor Safety and Flash Flooding It is imperative to check with the visitor center or make sure you know the weather in the park and surrounding areas and the risk of flash flooding before heading out. “We’re getting pushed downstream 10, 15, 20 feet,” he said. Flash Flood Information Location Help Lake Effect Snow and Snow Squalls in the Great Lakes Rain and Snow to Return to the West Heavy lake effect snow will continue downwind of the Great Lakes. Rushton said the family did everything right by waiting for help because the rushing waters even knocked him and one other rescuer off their feet as they crossed the swift rapids. “We brought blankets across and we started to warm them up, talk to them, console them, be there for them,” Andy Rushton, the assistant commander of swift water rescue team said. They then went to work to rescue the family. The team moved upriver from the waterfall and placed several safety teams in the water in case anyone got swept away. Less than an hour after the California group received a permit to Keyhole, the weather service raised the chance of rain. “Anyone that went over that falls it was certain death,” he said. It specifically noted the potential for flash flooding in slot canyons. Once rescue crews arrived on scene, they quickly noticed another danger: a large waterfall just downstream from the family that Ballantyne estimated to be a 50 foot drop.
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