A 7-year-old swept into the Atlantic Ocean at Acadia National Park on Sunday by Hurricane Bill's waves was pronounced dead after being pulled from the cold waters, while 13 others also hit by the massive wave were injured with a variety of broken bones and bruises.
The unidentified girl was among three park visitors washed into the ocean. There were reports that two others also were missing in the ocean, but Acadia Chief Ranger Stuart West couldn't confirm them.
“We don’t know. We received a report that as many as five people were washed into the ocean, we can only confirm that three were," Ranger West said.
The prospect of watching high seas smash into the coast of Maine brought thousands to the park Sunday. An estimated 10,000 visitors were gathered along the park shoreline near the popular Thunder Hole, a crack in the park's granite foundation that features spectacular wave explosions during high seas, around noon when one of the waves washed over those gathered to watch.
“We’ve had seas the result of Hurricane Bill between 12 and 15 feet. That's a big attraction to everyone in the area, seeing the waves crashing into shore," said the chief ranger. “At the same time we had those folks washed into the ocean, we had 11 other injuries. A dislocated shoulder, a broken leg, broken ankle and a broken wrist, I believe.”
The incident spurred an air, land, and sea search for the missing. While park rangers searched the shoreline for the 7-year-old and any others who might have been knocked into the ocean, the Coast Guard had a 47-foot cruiser searching the waters, while overhead a helicopter and Falcon jet were also searching, Ranger West said. The Maine Marine Patrol also had a boat participating in the search.
Soon after the visitors were swept into the ocean, Coast Guard rescuers were able to pull a 12-year-old girl and the father of the 7-year-old to safety about 150 yards from shore, he said. There were unconfirmed reports that the man had jumped into the ocean in a bid to save his daughter, said the ranger. The two were taken to a Bangor, Maine, hospital and reportedly were doing OK, said Ranger West.
Sometime later the Coast Guard searchers spotted the young girl.
Immediately after the incident park authorities closed Ocean Drive to the public. Rangers then began the task of trying to determine whether there were any vehicles whose owners were missing.
"We’re trying to do what we can to determine if those two other phantom folks actually fell in the water or not," he said. "We're trying to do a count of the vehicles to see if there’s an unaccounted owner or owners to determine if someone is missing."
While the day had dawned cloudy at Acadia, by afternoon it was mostly sunny with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. The ocean temperature, though, was a brisk 55 degrees, according to the chief ranger.
Comments
Thank God there are people in this world that realize that we are adults. We make our own decisions. If we make stupid or bad decisions the consequences are bad. Yes, I feel incredibly sad for the family that lost their daughter. It is a tragedy, an accident, a mistake. The loss of a family member is always difficult. Let the family mourn and hopefully as they heal they will see it as it is and not place "blame" where it doesn't belong.
Steve:
Thank you for articulating this point of view so well. Absolutely I agree with you and hope others can see the logic and the larger picture that you put out there for our consideration. I would encourage you to send your thoughts to area newspapers and get a wider audience's reaction.
best
Scott
Mick:
I feel your pain and my thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones on Sunday as I was at Acadia with my eight year old son and wife from Tuesday through Saturday walking on the same cliffs near Thunder Hole and the ocean. But you are not thinking of the consequencees of Park users being able to sue the Park Service. If this were to be the case, as soon as the Park Service lost their first suit, which would be inevitable in our legal system in the US, the cliffs at Acadia would be permanently closed to the public. Additionally, a trail like the Precipice Trail at Acadia would be permanently closed to the public. Next in line might be rock climbing at Yosemite or hiking in the Grand Canyon.
The National Parks are one of the last places left in the United States in which we as visitors have the freedom to explore nature and get as close to nature as we prefer. With this freedom comes repsonsibility. And unfortunately, if you take away our responsibility as users, you also take a way our freedom as users. That is just the way the tort law system works in this country.
usually the hurricane weather comes later after all the tourists have left, so we haven't seen this happen before. the problem is with people who aren't familiar with mother nature (people from away or the city,etc.) not knowing to respect her. Those of us brought up living off the land and sea are taught from the moment we could crawl a very healthy respect for mother nature. so many people only see such things on TV and have no concept of how dangerous they can be. It's too bad this tragedy will now cause the Park to put more severe restrictions on all of us now because some people couldn't at least respect the advice of the rangers trying to protect them. why do so many people feel laws are made for everybody else but them?
I was there at the park the day of the drowing and was one of the hundreds who stood along Ocean Drive and watched the Coast Guard pull two of the individuals from the water. Even as the rescue efforts were ongoing, park rangers were still yelling at people to get off the rocks; people who were trying to get a closer look at the rescue! It is amazing how irresponsible some people can be. It is a shame that that young girl died, but her father never should have allowed her to be in that position. As for those who want to blame park officials, you are typical of the ignorant and ill-formed who skirt personal responsibility and want to blame others for [your] stupidity. I live in RI and we have a cliif walk along the ocean in Newport. Recently an individual by-passed fencing and posted signs to "get a better look" at the ocean and he fell and is now a quadriplegic. He is suing the city of Newport. If this lawsuit is successful, the city will close the cliff walk and millions of would-be tourists will have to pay the price for one man's stupidity and ignorance.
I was also at Acadia over the week end. Although not there specifically to see the effects of Bill, I was fully aware of the Bill's impact. Signs, warnings, and rangers were ever present warning about Bill's potential. In fact, I was on the other side of the island that afternoon, witnessing again people ignoring Ranger's warnings about crossing Seawall Causway, refusing to leave the Seawall picnic area and getting angry that the Park Service had the nerve to close the area. We did get to Thunder hole the next day - when again people were all over the same rocks and again ignoring the same warnings about the sea's potential that led to tragedy the day before. I agree - if we choose to take risks, then we must live with that choice - the individual is responsible. It's just too bad that the decision of an adult entrusted with the care of a child was so wrong.
We were at the Schoodic Portion of Maine about two weeks before this tragedy happened. We were on the point--we were on the white rocks and my son was about 6 feet down in front of us--not at all near the spray or splash--in my mind a safe spot. Park Ranger Megan came down on the rocks and told my son and a bunch of people who were further on the point than him that they needed to back up. She then spent about 15 minutes talking to the kids about the danger of the waves. She shared with the kids that usually once a year someone gets swept off the rocks and they aren't allowed to go in and try to rescue them and that the waves are unobstructed as they travel the Atlantic so rogue waves can potentially happen. It was a lesson my son and daughter would never forget. When the tragedy happened, their only question is why didn't ranger Megan tell those kids to get back--not realizing she wasn't at that location and certainly couldn't be everywhere all at once. I wrote Megan a note to thank her for the lesson and express my sympathy to all of the park rangers and the families for the tragic events. The park ranger's job cannot be an easy one, but my experience at Schoodic showed that they were being more than responsible by providing information and education. The fact that she took the time (not just to yell at them--but to educate) is something I will remember for my lifetime. I have no doubt if Ranger Megan saw anyone on the rocks in a too-close position in Schoodic during this storm--they would have been moved--and educated on the power of the ocean.
I totally disagree with this comment. We already have too many lawyers and lawsuits in this country. I don't want to increase the level of influence lawyers have on our culture and quality of life. People (Parents) need to have common sense - especially with protecting their young children. If anyone is negligent with respect to this unfortunate tragedy, it falls squarly on the parents of this child. As a parent of three children, I feel we are primarily responsible for protecting our children - not park rangers. I can't imagine the loss the little girl's father must be feeling. I am going to do whatever I can to diligently protect my children and do my best to keep them away from dangerous situations like these. It's not worth the risk!!!