DROWNING REAR REMMEL DAM

[Gordon Kumpuris]

ANYONE HAVE ANY MORE INFO ON THIS?? BELOW INFO CUT AND PASTED FROM KARK TV WEBSITE......
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Rescue crews are searching for a man -- last seen in Remmel Dam in Hot Spring County.

According to authorities -- two people fell into the water there, but only one has been rescued so far.

Rescue crews say the two are father and daughter and may have been kayaking.

The girl was taken to the hospital, but is expected to be ok.

Remmel Dam has been temporarily shut down while crews search for the missing man.

“They all went out there, guy got in trouble he fell out of his kayak. Two girls came back and it started sucking him back right to the flood gates,” says witness David Willingham.

Witnesses say one of the girls went back in after her father when she saw him in trouble.

David Willingham then helped rescue her.

[Jeremy M]

Just heard about this too....was concerned...PLEASE keep us updated.

[Jeremy M]

Hot Springs County -
Rescue crews recovered the body of a man who drowned in the Ouachita River in Hot Spring County Sunday afternoon.

The coroner's office told Channel 7 the victim was kayaking near the Remmel Dam when the undertow pulled him down.

Witnesses say he fell out of the kayak and may have been knocked unconscious. His life vest was ripped off by the rushing water. The victim who is only being identified as an adult male was spotted by an airplane about half a mile from the base of the dam.

The man's two daughters were also kayaking on the river and tried to save their father. Channel 7 was told one of the young women was injured during the rescue attempt. But she's been treated at a local hospital and released.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the families.

[J Cossey]

Yes I was the Paramedic on scene there. What Jeremy M said was basically it. I will share what i saw but keep in mind I have to protect the identity of the people involved and am also inclined not to release much info since the people involved may be members of this board and out of respect to the family. I also have pictures of the damage to the kayak and will share it only after I get clearance from my employer granted it is only a picture of the boat and not the victims.

[Gordon Kumpuris]

Not interested in sensational photos. Would like to know facts to avoid false assumptions.

Prayers to the families involved.

[lbaker]

My prayers to the family also.

[David Lewis]

According to the Democrat-Gazette (and my Entergy Arkansas co-worker, Bobby Pharr, a boating safety evangelist himself), there were three floodgates open at Remmel Dam yesterday at the time of the accident. It's unusual to have three floodgates open, but lake managers are still working on releasing the excess of water gained over the last several weeks.

The gate to the road leading down to the tailwater area was locked with a sign warning of turbulent waters. But the walking trail remained open.

If there is a lesson to be learned from this, perhaps it is to stay well away from the dam when flood gates are open.

Deepest sympathies to the victim's family and friends.

[J Cossey]

When I arrived there were only two gates releasing water. The access road was closed and we did have to break the lock to gain access. When we got to the water there were several bystanders mostly people fishing but there were many boaters there as well. I counted 4 kayaks and 2 canoes. This concerned me as people have no business getting into the water when the dam is releasing. Even the swift water rescue team had difficulty maneuvering in the water. This is the second time this event has happened in the last two weeks.

[T Yamashita]

IIRC, one of the news channels, Channel 7 (KATV)? Put up stats that average flow at remel is ~10,000 cfs but flow on the day of the accident was greater than 100,000. I looked at the usgs graph and it looks like they were wrong. It was about 10,000 cfs. Still, pretty big coming out of the gates.

ty

[jmdauf]

they only missed it times 10 - kinda scary when u think of the newspapers' demise?

[tsmethe]

There were only two gates and flow was about 10,500 CFS. Other facts already reported seem consistant with the info we have.

I just want to say that the flow will resume later today at about 10,000 CFS. I had asked the Corps for 4,000 CFS, but Lake Ouachita is too high up into the flood pool and they are concerned about it. Hopefully, the Corps will reduce flows on Friday if we don't get a lot of rain.

Bottom line: zip up your life jacket, make sure it is snug and always wear a helmet.

Our deepest sympathies to the family.

Ted

[Lifejacket]

Just curious why the title is REAR instead of NEAR or are you indicating BELOW? Just never heard the downstream side referred to as REAR if that was your intention.

[GN YAKN]

I'm trying to understand. Was the boater on the Ouachita below the dam and managed to get sucked back into the spillway water, or was he above the dam and sucked through the gates?

[J Cossey]

below dam

[Lazer]

I believe Gordon meant to type Near not Rear. Reports state that the incident occurred below the dam. I suspect they got too close to the tailwaters and it pulled them into the hydraulic, and not through the dam from the lake.