Major flooding with a sad outcome.

[azsnowman]

My SAR Unit along with the WMAT Police and WMAT Game and Fish spent the better part of the day (9 hours) conducting a cadaver recovery mission with negative results. An area prone to flooding was hit with what some discribed as "THE" 100 year flood. Talked with the WMAT EMT (emergen. mngmt. team) and according to their estimates and NOAA Doplar Radar estimates, a thunderstorm produced an estimated 5.30-5.45" of rain in the matter of an hour, this area has received over an average of 3" per DAY for the past 4 days and a wall of water, est. to be 9 feet high and over 200 yds. wide, came crashing down on a remote housing development and swept away a 16 yr. old boy........my SAR teams (6 people w/ 4 dogs) found his pants and undergarments 7 feet up a tree approx 3 miles from his last sighting....

[Stephanie]

That's terrible! The poor kid!

[azsnowman]

Yeah Stephanie, it is.....I just cannot BEGIN to phatom that much water roaring down a canyon and you know dam well that's there's NOTHING you can do but run like Hades and pray you make it to higher ground in time.

As I told someone today, with such a large debris field, literally SQUARE miles, it's going to be a wait and sniff situation. That's the hardest part about Search and Rescue, you KNOW down deep that you did everything you could do, you worked your heart out and no person/body was found for closure for the family.....that KILLS me, I beat myself up for days after a search like this, "Did I do everything right, was my dog working good enough, did I miss something?" But in the end, like I said, I know in my heart that I did my little part in relieving someones' pain.

[bvigal]

Dennis, so sorry, I know it's tough. Even when the outcome is bad, and you find a body, at least you provide some closure for the family. We lost two overboard in a boating accident last year, and despite numerous searches with dozens of divers, boat, air, and shore searches over several days, never recovered them. Sometimes people don't realize that it's not only hard on the family, it's also very difficult for SAR teams. It goes with the territory, and you just can't win them all. Be sure everyone talks it out. Try to think about some good ones. Just last week we brought one back from dead, floating face down and starting to sink, lungs full of seawater. I'll be thinking of you, Buddy!

[Stormsfury]

I know it's hard man, but if you know in your heart that you did everything you could to assist and help, there's absolutely nothing that you could have done different. I'm truely sorry to hear about anything like this happening.

[wxmann_91]

Ouch. That's terrible. My prayers go out to the family of the victim.

[LAwxrgal]

That's terrible. My prayers go out to the victim's family.