The River that can Kill You

[The Helper]

THE RIVER CAN KILL — STAY OUT. That blunt warning greets visitors at Great Falls Park because subtlety hasn't deterred people from illegally wading, swimming and diving into this treacherous slice of the Potomac.

Since 2001, 27 people have died in river accidents in the area, including three since June. Few wore life jackets.

The death toll is low in the raging falls, because the danger is obvious and few people venture there. More often, the river's victims are people who came to hike, fish or swim and who disappeared after entering tame-looking water downstream.

The geology is complex, but in a nutshell, 200 million years of the river's flow barely eroded some of the bedrock. Waves of sediment from melting glaciers in western Pennsylvania exposed the same kinds of jagged cracks, outcroppings and rocks under the water as you see above it.

Read the whole story here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/the-perils-of-great-falls/

 

[Narks]

the money spent creating that article could have been spent putting up warning signs...

 

[camelCase]

And ruin that natural beauty? Heck no =P

 

[Nyph]

That's a damn nice looking river, I would swim in it. Maybe they should have a lifeguard there or something.

 

[FireCat]

Beautiful but deadly !

Maybe they should have a lifeguard there or something.

The river are big. That would not help much. Just don't Swim!

 

[KMilz]

This is twenty minutes from where I grew up. Beautiful slice of the river with a strenuous hiking trail (all up and down and up and down at steep angles, get's you goin'!), great places to free climb and scale cliffs and fun to swim in if you're an idiot. I didn't realize that as many people died in it as there are, but doesn't keep it from being any less great.

 

[Varine]

Maybe they should just let stupid people do stupid things, creating a more intelligent population. Then, in a few more years, no more people will jump into a clearly not safe area of water because all the idiots that were going to already did (or were killed doing some other stupid fucking thing), thus eliminating the necessity for warning signs.

 

[Accname]

Maybe they should just let stupid people do stupid things, creating a more intelligent population. Then, in a few more years, no more people will jump into a clearly not safe area of water because all the idiots that were going to already did (or were killed doing some other stupid fucking thing), thus eliminating the necessity for warning signs.

Completely agree with that line of thought

 

[KaerfNomekop]

This article's title is just silly. Which river can't kill you if you submerge your head in it for a few hours?

 

[KMilz]

Completely agree with that line of thought

Almost all kids are dumb, though; that doesn't seem fair to them.

 

[Accname]

Almost all kids are dumb, though; that doesn't seem fair to them.

But some will learn once they see the others drown.

 

[Varine]

Almost all kids are dumb, though; that doesn't seem fair to them.

Not for long.

 

[KMilz]

Not for long.

Lol, right?

 

[Varine]

They have parents for a reason. If your child is stupid enough to jump into clearly unsafe areas like this, then you need to tell them no, don't do that stupid child, and start watching them so they don't jump into clearly unsafe areas like this.

 

[FireCat]

I bet, adults try to swim there too "for the adrenaline rush" Don't you think so?

 

[Varine]

Which brings us back to the elimination of the former Darwin Award recipients.

 

[DM Cross]

The world was not designed to be safe, soft and squishy. In the end, any number of places all over the country, let alone the world, are capable of administrating a little death out.

One river is really not that big a surprise, honestly. Nor will it surprise me to see the fatality number climb.