Search and Rescue Plucks Five From Rising Water

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY –  With duck season well underway, many were eager to take advantage of the vacation time and show off all the gear and guns Santa brought. While this time of year may not be popular with the ducks, the many it brings out to the forests and waters comes at a time of year when the weather can turn deadly in an instant. 

As they say, “If you don’t like the weather in East Texas, wait five minutes and it will change.”

The heavy rain and storms we experienced over the Christmas break left large amounts of water, running over county roads and paths and streaming down waterways. One group of five hunters and their dog were out hunting when rising waters trapped them out in the middle of nowhere. As the water rose and became swifter, they found they couldn’t get the group out safely and one of them was able to get out and call 911. 

It was about 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 27 when the call came in. The heavy rains the day before had ended, but the waters will still high and still moving. The group had been out early that morning and although there was high water on the trails, the waterways looked clear. As the water kept pushing its way towards them, the way out was blocked and the group knew they were in trouble. 

Gene Kellum and Houston County Search and Rescue (SAR) were contacted by the sheriff’s office, who had roughly located the group near Neches Bluff. The deputies had been unable to reach the group due to high waters on the roads, and game wardens from two counties couldn’t make it out, either. Each of the roads coming from the Weches area were tried to at least get closer to where the group was believed to be, and each time high water stopped any progress. 

Once SAR hit the scene, even their equipment struggled with the high water and putting a call out for more resources, Grapeland Volunteer Fire Department brought their high-water rescue truck out, finally allowing the group to reach the area where the group were still struggling with the rising water. 

10 SAR members were in on the rescue, dealing with three to four feet-high water on the access road. The group was finally able to sneak their way to within a few hundred yards of the stranded hunters. They had been able to locate them fairly quickly – but getting to them took hours, with all access roads blocked. 

“I put three rescue swimmers in the water with a rope attached to them and they worked their way over to them. The group was a couple of hundred yards in the flood zone,” Kellum said. “Our group had to swim with the rope out to them, then we were able to pull a boat out to them.”

Since the waters were moving too fast to use a motor or even paddles, the SAR swimmers had to bring the boat in on the rope connection they had established. SAR trains – and trains others – in high-water rescues, a skill that has paid off time and time again.  

It took a couple of trips to get the entire hunting party back to safety. The first run got two of the hunters and the group’s dog, with the other three coming on the second run. It was 2 p.m. by the time the group was safe. They had managed to find some higher ground to keep out of the fast-running water, and other than soaked and exhausted, were otherwise no worse for the wear. 

Kellum said it’s part of what SAR does, something impossible without the support of the county, local business donations and the people themselves. 

“It’s due to the people’s support of Search and Rescue and our operations in the county that makes this stuff possible,” Kellum noted. “It’s just people helping people.”

Kellum and SAR always promise one thing and make good on that promise – “If you are out there, we will find you.” Their efforts won’t be needed when best practices are used. Make sure you keep a close eye on the weather. Not just the current weather, but what is coming and in this case, what has been. The high rains the day before almost guaranteed the water levels would rise. While the grateful hunters were able to be plucked out and dried off this time, the event could have turned out much worse. 

From first-time tourists to lifers who know the area well, East Texas weather has a way of punishing you if you fail to respect it. It may be curtains for some of those ducks, but keeping an eye on conditions can make sure we don’t follow the same fate. 

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]