MADISON COUNTY, Ark. — Lakes and rivers are packed across Arkansas as people get out and enjoy what the Natural State has to offer. But, with all the rain lately, several have lost their lives due to the dangerous conditions on the water.
A beloved member of the Northwest Arkansas cycling community passed away on the Kings River over the weekend in a kayaking accident. The water is calm now, but that wasn't the case when Justin Parcell from Springdale lost his life.
“With all the people that are looking for something to do locally, there has been a big influx of people coming to the river to float and we’ve had lots of heavy rains,” Ernie Kellman, owner of Kings River Outfitters said.
Kellman has owned Kings River Outfitters in Madison County for 26 years. He says there are two points on the Kings River (one by the culvert bridge above Marshal Ford and the old condemned bridge at Highway 221 and Trigger Gap) that are man-made obstacles and are extremely dangerous.
“What happens is at higher water they become drowning machines. They have hydraulics and backspin eddies that people aren’t familiar with because it's supposed to be a class one river, that is what this is rated, but those two man-made obstacles become two and three class rapids,” he said.
There are no signs warning people of the possible obstacles ahead and Kellman says signage could save lives.
“We have cutoff points for our outfitters and when it gets over a certain level we don’t put people out but we can not stop other people from getting on Arkansas rivers because the water belongs to the citizens and they have no idea what they are getting into sometimes,” Kellman told 5NEWS.
The President and CEO of the Johnson County Dive Team, Darrel Plank, said since 1994 he has recovered 80 drowning victims in Arkansas. He says the hydraulics low water bridges create can cause dangerous conditions even for the most seasoned kayaker.
“When you get to a hydraulic you better be really prepared to handle that. We had a boy over in Oklahoma that got caught in a hydraulic and couldn't get out and drowned. So, hydraulics are really really dangerous and you don’t have to be off a bridge to see one,” Plank said.
Another obstacle to kayakers on rivers are trees that have fallen into the water and can not be seen because of heavy rain.