No injured cavers recorded.
On Saturday morning at 11:30 a group of 11 cavers entered Anderson Spring Cave on Pigeon Mountain near LaFayette, Georgia. These were student members of the Outdoor Club of Georgia Southwestern College, their leader Barry Beck (40), an assistant professor of geology, and Beck's son, Eric (13). The students, all in their late teens, included Cheryl Gillis, Tony Able, Mark McKoy, Tony Johnson, Mary Faye Smith, Warren Moore, Dennis Hudgins, Louis Pounds and Steen Madsen. Beck and his son are experienced cavers, the rest were not. All were well-equipped with hard hats, spare lights, warm clothes and a lunch. At between 3 and 3:30 they neared the end of the large effluent stream passage, nearly a mile from the entrance. Lunch was eaten and Johnson, having lamp trouble, and Eric Beck, getting cold, decided to leave. The other nine continued to a breakdown choke and unsuccessfully explored it for an hour. At this point they decided to leave the cave. Meanwhile, outside, a thunderstorm described by some as the worst in decades struck the southeast. Up to 15 inches of rain fell in some areas. Torrents of rain descended on Pigeon Mountain. As the cavers headed for the entrance the rising water was noticeable. Former drips from the ceiling were now gushing water. In the large passage the rising cave stream meant little, but the entrance area is constricted, so they hurried on. To their dismay they found the entrance passage nearly filled with water. Two students, McKoy and Able, wanted to push on out and received Beck's permission. Fortunately the passage had not quite sumped and they exited successfully. The rest retreated upstream and climbed breakdown to an upper level to wait out the flood. They were wet to the neck but huddled together to stay warm and also exercised every hour. After 8 to 10 hours their clothing dried and their stay became quite tolerable. In the meantime the four who had left contacted the Walker County Civil Defense. Other agencies were alerted, and late Saturday an attempt was made to enter the cave but the force of water flowing out made this impossible. Sunday morning, four scuba divers from the Walker County Cave Rescue Squad were also beaten back by the water flow just inside the entrance. The National Cave Rescue Commission coordinated the flying in by the Air Force of a special hypothermia treatment team from Virginia. At around 7 p.m. on Sunday two divers struggled through a 60-foot near-sump with a strong current of 45 degree water. When they entered the large passage they found the cavers already prepared for an attempt at leaving. Using an extra regulator on one of the scuba tanks, the trapped cavers were escorted one-by-one through the 4-inch air space of the near-sump. The last person was out 33 hours after entering. The cavers were checked at a nearby hospital and found to be in good condition.
Entering the cave in the face of bad weather is perhaps excusable in this case since the leader was familiar with the cave and knew that even heavy ordinary rain would not close it. However, when the entrance was found to be nearly sumped when they first went to leave, no one should have been allowed to make the attempt to get out. If the low air space had gotten lower as Able and McKoy proceeded they might have panicked and drowned in an attempt to force their way. Better for all to wait it out.
33 hrs. The Chattanooga Times 3/5/79. Bakersfield Californian 3/5/79. Inside Connection (Southern Bell Telephone Co Newsletter) May79. New York Daily News 3/5/79. NSS News May79 p103.
This record was last updated on 29th Apr 2024 at 18:04 UTC.