With the high water in Clarksville Tennessee, some thrill seekers saw it as an opportunity to engage in a little daredevilry. This included driving through high water, wading in flood waters, going out on the RJ Corman Railroad bridge, and boating on the swiftly moving river.
Consider these all examples of things that you don’t want to do!
Boating unsafely
On Sunday evening as the waters were swiftly rising, I found a young man sitting on the side of the river at McGregor Park near the courtesy boat dock pumping up his inflatable boat. I told him “I don’t recommend that,” but he dismissed my concerns. He didn’t have a life vest, so I told him “I would feel much better if he at least had a life jacket”. His response was to tell me he was a lifeguard, and that he was going just to stay in the back water. Short of my physically restraining him there was no other way for me to stop him, so we left.
The TWRA told me today that they are not allowing boaters on the River at all at this time, and they are actively patrolling the riverfront by boat.
Driving in High Water
Sometime in the night on Hickory Grove a driver went around the orange cones, then around the warning barricades, thinking that he could drive through the high water he proceeded on down the road. His car stalled out and was found there with water up to the open drivers side window the next morning.
Behind Two Rivers mall adventuresome drivers were taking advantage of the incursion of water into the mall parking lot to drive through it at high speed in their trucks. This activity drew a crowd which seemed to encourage the drivers to take even more risks. One of the drivers stalled out in the high water and had to be rescued by the driver of another vehicle.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Ssopj07GM[/youtube]
Wading in High water
At Dubar Cave Road teenagers waded out waist deep in the high water. What most people may not know is that it only takes 6″ of fast moving water to take you off your feet.
There is also a strong risk of water borne illnesses.
Going out on a limb
Downtown people were venturing out on the RJ Corman Railroad bridge and the trestle work on the far side of the river. Many were there to take photos, while others just wanted to see the view from the bridge. The problem is that anyone falling off the bridge into the water faced a certain death as the current was too strong to allow even the strongest swimmer to successfully fight it.
