Nancy, Cave rescues can be very frustrating, infuriating, and down right maddening. I totally understand your comments. I've been unfortunate to have worked on a number of different cave incidents in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. This was one of the best managed ones that I've been on.
While I was at the scene, George Veni and I were trying to discuss the hydrology of the system last night aw well as the cell phone coverage would allow. George has done a lot of work on the cave hydrology. In addition, George and I worked a very similar incident in Kentucky in 1984 when 8 cavers got stuck in a cave by flood waters. It was amazing how closely the incidents resembled each other, including pumps, and news helicopters flying over head. However, the Prescient 11 incident lasted about 3 days and made the national news. Anyway, cave rescues commonly take much much longer than you would think and commonly requires specialized equipment or training and usually include a whole host of folks with different skill sets and responsibilities. I figured we would be at the site at least for a day. The professional rescue community did a fantastic job running the incident. They were very professional and gracious in allowing the cavers to assist (which they don't have to do). They wisely realized that the situation needed someone with specialized skills and training and I called Jean K. to see if could be available and to ask if other divers might also be able to assist. Jean came down with her equipment to assess the situation and see if she could help and asked that Ryan Eastman also come down. Ryan arrived just as Jean was finishing here dive. If you can imagine preparing to dive into a very low visibility situation hoping for the best but really expecting the worst. This is a very high stress situation to be put in. Make sure that you thank Jean when you see here. (Jean and Linda are still some of my hero's but don't tell them as it will go to there heads) When I arrived, I talked to the Incident Commander at the cave entrance and recommended that they remove some of the obstructions that was impeding the flow of water exiting the cave. The cavers and firefighters did a great job and were able to make really good progress. This helped to lower the water level a few inches to the level of a pond in front of the cave. We put in some yard sticks so we could measure the change in water levels. The Boerne fire department at the same time brought in two large pumps which were used to lower the level of the pond. This dropped the water level about 4 to 6 more inches and created a nice gradient to rapidly help drain the cave passage even more. The installation of the large pumps, priming of the pumps, handling of the hoses, rigging of haul systems to move some of the large rocks out of the spring, coordinating equipment into and out of the cave, setting up large light systems out side so folks could see what they were doing, took a lot of effort. But in reality, many cave flooding incidents are what I call a hurry up and wait situation. Many times, there is little you can do but sit and wait for the water to go down. When Jean arrived, she got prepared to dive and went into the cave with Linda and five of the firefighters in wet suits. They hauled in her gear to an area inside the cave where she could begin the dive. However, the operations of the pumps and removal of the rocks helped to lower the water level and they were able to reach Thomas without scuba gear. I hope that helps to explain some of what went on last night. I know it is very frustrating when there is very little information coming out during an incident and you're sitting at home worried about friends or family. I only wish it could have ended better for Thomas. Geary . -----Original Message----- From: Nancy Weaver [mailto:nan...@io.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 10:44 AM To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] apologies My apologies to all involved for an unnecessarily flippant remark. Thanks to all who spent their time in the recovery. Nancy --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com