Two deaths at same waterfall...

[TNhiker]

This was posted on the Jackson County, NC Emergency Management Team’s website....

This make 3 deaths at waterfalls in western North Carolina this week...

Not a good way to open the tourist season, especially this year...

and, predictable, it will open the can of words and worms....

i post this to inform people but know the value of a discussion board,
hence not posting in Straight Forward.....


Last night, Monday, May 4, 2020, Jackson County Emergency Management received a call at about 9 p.m., from Transylvania County regarding a person who had fallen into the water at the base of Whitewater Falls. The Glenville-Cashiers Rescue Squad (GCRS) and other responders worked diligently to locate the victim until storms came in around 1 a.m. Due to safety concerns resulting from the weather and difficult terrain, the search was temporarily suspended. The GCRS returned to the area at 9 a.m., this morning (Tuesday, May 5). Jackson County Emergency Management, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office and Transylvania County Fire Department, a swift water rescue dive team from Henderson County, along with other public safety departments from surrounding areas were also on site to search for the subject. The victim has been identified as 24-year-old male Chandler Manuel from Rockwell, N.C. His family has been notified. During the search for Manuel, a rugged remote high line operations repelling team from the GCRS was searching for the victim. One of the longtime male members of the GCRS fell from a rope during search operations. He did not survive the fall. His body was retrieved from the bottom of the falls at 4:15 p.m., by a National Guard N.C. Heart helicopter team. Ten (10) other GCRS search team members were below the falls, while eight others were on their way down to the falls. All 18 of these members survived safely. The N.C. State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) is investigating the incident, which is standard when a death occurs in the line of duty. The search for Manuel has been suspended for the night. It will resume first thing in the morning on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.

[BillyGr]

Has this area had problems in the past?

That seems to happen up this way in NY, where a couple certain areas tend to attract people who are probably not generally hikers to visit these falls that are within a short distance of an access point.

Being not hikers, they also often tend to not have the best gear (footwear in particular), which makes what would otherwise be an easy walk into something more dangerous when their foot slips on what you would suspect to find near a falls (wet rocks and other substances that grow in moist areas).

Seeing that one of the rescue team was also involved is more unfortunate, though.

[TNhiker]

Has this area had problems in the past?

i should note that one of the deaths i had above was in South Carolina and not North Carolina...

And yes, tons of deaths have happened at various waterfalls over the years..

i know i have personally covered ramsey cascades death, abrams falls death, and i wouldnt doubt at if i have covered
more in the 20 some years ive been in news down here......

Being not hikers, they also often tend to not have the best gear (footwear in particular), which makes what would otherwise be an easy walk into something more dangerous when their foot slips on what you would suspect to find near a falls (wet rocks and other substances that grow in moist areas

yes.........it seems like most are people who not normally would go hike, are the ones killed...

i think (and this is just my opinion) that most people who hike on a regular basis and have hiked to waterfalls before,
know the risk of them.....

and (this alludes to my can of worms statement)-------other than the rescue team person, these deaths are people
getting out cause they are frustrated with stay at home orders, i would guess.....

[C4web88]

i should note that one of the deaths i had above was in South Carolina and not North Carolina...

What a disaster....very sad....

Was the SC death you mentioned right across the border @ the lower whitewater falls?

[Traveler]

I feel badly for the families of these accident victims.

Many people who visit waterfalls, high cliff-top viewpoints, and other natural features are casual visitors to forests and unfortunately as such, they are not able to fully appreciate the dangers that exist. These features often have improved trails with railings, staircases, and other appurtenances to help make the hike easier, protect fragile environments, and set physical boundaries to keep people from leaving the trail or observation area and get into trouble. To the uninitiated this these sites can appear as safe as a back yard despite signage that bluntly warn people of the hazards. Unfortunately for a number of people that feeling of safety can lead to ignoring warnings and engaging in careless behavior that can quickly turn into cautionary tales for those who follow.

To paraphrase an old aviation adage, "The forest has attractive features that are not dangerous in and of themselves, they are simply intolerant of carelessness and mistakes".

[Hikingjim]

Always sad to hear.
It is often shocking to see the antics people get up to with poor footwear, including flip flops. A little bit of showing off or selfy positioning mixed in and the danger escalates quickly.

[cneill13]

No matter what authorities may be to safe guard, you can't fix stupid. This idiot caused two deaths.

[Deadeye]

I'll bet every state in the US and every country in the world has those dangerous beauty spots where people congregate and wind up hurt or dead with reliable frequency. New England has potholes and gorges formed as the glaciers left, and many have a plaque by the road informing those who are about to swim of the dangers and deaths in that spot over the years. Unfortunate, but magnets are magnets and people are people. We had one state trooper die trying to retrieve a body from a notorious local gorge while the water was still high... we now wait for the water to recede - no point in getting killed recovering a dead person.

[TNhiker]

Was the SC death you mentioned right across the border @ the lower whitewater falls?

yeah....i believe that is the one......

[bigcranky]

For anyone who didn't read to the end of the post, a rescuer died during the rescue attempt.

Did the hiker walk past "Trail Closed" signs? That was apparently the case with an earlier waterfall death in NC.

[TNhiker]

Did the hiker walk past "Trail Closed" signs? That was apparently the case with an earlier waterfall death in NC.

i'm looking through some articles to see if this can be answered but i did find this---
"Whitewater Falls, a stunning, 411-foot falls in the Nantahala National Forest in Jackson County, has been closed since April 13 because of the COVID-19 pandemic"


https://www.citizen-times.com/story/...on/5174602002/