First Hand Account, Flash Flood....

[GloryDaze]

With all the rivers in MO being flooded last weekend, me and my buddy took an unexpected trip down to the Buffalo. What a pleasant surprise it was for the upper section to receive 2" of rain the day before and afford us the opportunity to float from the Ponca low water bridge in August. When we arrived at the Buffalo Outdoor Center on Friday, the place was hopping with may out of towners taking advantage of this unique mid-summer event. We were told this was the first time in 40 years the upper section had enough water in the month of August for BOC to put canoes on the river in Ponca.

With hopes high, sunny skies and about 14" of airspace at the bridge we began our 2 night three day journey to Pruitt. The water was stained a little bt the fishing was excellent. Nothing big was caught, but we definitely caught plenty throughout the day. The plan was to camp just below Hemmed in Hollow and just above Kyle's landing leaving about 13 or so milel to float Saturday and Sunday. We settled in to camp had a great dinner and off to sleep we went.

It started raining around 11:30pm and, quite frankly stromed like a SOB until about 8am the next morning. Now before we left the BOC we saw a forecast for 30% chance of showers, so we took precaution when we picked a camp site by strategically picking one with enough high ground should we need it. Throughout the night we checked the river and it was surely rising but nothing to panic about. When we woke up in the morning around 6, it was still storming and the river was still rising and looked pretty fast. At that point we had to make a decision.... pack all of our stuff up in the pouring rain and rush to get on the river that had risen to a level that we weren't sure was safe and head for Kyle's landing OR ride it out and wait for the unknown. We chose the option of riding it out.......

First time in my life have a wittnessed the entire cycle of an Ozark river flash flood from a river bank. The water was rising about 1.5" per 10 minutes at first, but by the time it was at it's peak rise was almost too fast for us to measure. There was a whole long drawn out process that took place over the next 24 hours, but mostly it was sitting back and admiring the sheer power of that river. I just couldn't believe the size of the trees that were being pushed down the stream.. it was interesting to see how as the water rose, the size of debris grew and grew. The river finally crested at 2pm and we almost celebrated like we just won the lottery. About that time we see a dude on a big whitewater raft come flying by us.... clearly this guy had been waiting 40 years to float at this level in August, or he was bat-dung crazy....either way it was interesting.

As we watched the water start it's way back down, we started the typical self- evalution: should we have left for Kyle's, did we pick ground high enough, did we tell our wives where we were going, and went through a laundry list of things we may have done differently had we "ONLY KNOWN". As we started to get the gravel bar back, we kept watching the swiftly flowing muddy water and my buddy yells 'hey that stump looks like a wolf head" joking of course.... as I stared at it, I realized it was a big ol hog out there being washed down the stream. He swam as hard as he could and made it across the river directly from us. Got out of the water shook himself off and was on his merry way.

We then spent the night at the exact same location as nigh one wondering if more rain was on the way and what time we may be able to leave in the morning. We managed to miss the rain and decided that after 37 hours of sitting in the same place to put on the river first thing in the morning and head for Kyle's landing. The water was high and moving pretty fast, but wasn;t what I would consider dangerous. When we got to Kyles the little "pole" they have in the water to gauge danger levels was just below red and into the yellow.

Anyway, we had to be creative on getting to our cars since they were at Pruitt, but managed to figure it out. We did learn they had to do a rescue on the River at Steele Creek with some hikers who apparently got trapped. We also learned there was a 60% chance of rain the evening before and we somehow got lucky and the front moved out. darn, if that would have happened, I may just now be getting home.

Either way, it was a memorable experience that made me appreciate the beauty and danger that comes along with the hobby I love. It made me appreciate the knowledge me and my friend had accumulated over the years on how to take care of ourselves. It would have been neat for us to record our conversations as we strategically discussed the next steps.... if the water gets here, we do this.... if we lose our canoes, we do this... really a pretty amazing expereience with a good friend on a beautiful river in August.

Overall, I think the gauge at Ponca captured 2-3" of rain and a 10-12' rise in the river. Where we were, it seemed like the river rose about 5-6' and crested at 2pm.

[Greasy B]

Thanks for the story. I'd say you made the right decisions.

[ness]

Great story -- thanks for sharing it. That's some pretty interesting stuff. Good think you guys kept your eyes peeled that night.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Better to be safe than sorry, but you already knew that.

[mic]

Thanks for the story. I almost I wish I was there.

[Gavin]

Its kinda scary when that happens...I think you made the right choice..

[steve l]

Been there. Great story. I like the down tree in pic 1 that is gone in pic 2. I don't think people believe it when they are told camp high - maybe this will help that out a bit.

[GloryDaze]

darn, great pics of Ponca we were wondering what the

Bridge looked like! If you look a little closer, in pic 2 there's a huge tree that got wedged in the trees on the left side of the picture on the opposite side of the river. It wasn't there in the first pic.

[taxidermist]

First time we had to put eh Zodiac in Buffalo and go rescue idiots in August. We took a call about folk stranded in a tree near Mt Hersey, There Royalex was wrapped around a tree and they were cold and scared. I did have to ask if the borwn stuff in the shorts was dirt or other stuff. They are ok, just typical dumb tourist.

Wish people would learn if the river is rising either know how float thier boat or stay off the river.

[gotmuddy]

great story of people who arent idiots. Wish everyone was like that. I wonder how hard it would be to drag up my river boat up the bank.