| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiselke, Mark | 25 | Male | Not recorded | Not recorded |
Four cavers entered Natural Well, Alabama, on the afternoon of September 1. Two were experienced and two had been caving only six months with "some" experience in vertical caves. All were about 25 years old. They had not slept since driving down from Indiana the previous night and had no food with them. Their dress was jeans and T-shirts with one extra dry shirt.
At 4:30 p.m. they arrived at the entrance pit, rigged it, and rappelled in. This pit is 180 feet with two normally dry inlet streams. Below is 57° F cave with large horizontal passage that never floods.
The trip was basically a bop of the pit entrance, and at 6 p.m. the first of the cavers, Brian Finnigan, started out. Shortly before 6:30 a thunderstorm broke, yielding intense rain. A second caver, Jim Gaskell, got out but the water flow was by then so great that the others, Mark Kiselke (25) and George Cesnik (25), could not ascend. They took refuge on a protected ledge about 12 feet off the floor. The flow continued to increase, carrying large rocks and debris into the pit. Communication with those below was impossible so Finnigan and Gaskell went to the nearest house and called for help.
They called the emergency phone number which resulted in contact with the Huntsville Police State Park Rangers, Madison County Rescue Squad and the EMSI Ambulance Service. MCRS contacted the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit at 7:15 p.m. Heavy rain continued. Help began to arrive at 7:30. Two teams began diverting the streams flowing into the pit and wetsuits and warm clothes were called for.
By 9:30 p.m. the water flow had decreased such that Carl Craig descended without a wetsuit. He carried a space blanket for the trapped cavers and was able to signal that all was OK. By 10 p.m. the water flow was further reduced and Craig signalled that one man was ready to be hoisted. As this was done a National Guard field telephone was lowered. This hastened the completion of the rescue and all were out by 10:30 p.m.
The cavers were perhaps prepared for normal conditions. However, in any cave even potentially subject to flooding, one must be aware of local weather conditions. If thunderstorm conditions are forecast, the trip should be cancelled.
The Huntsville Times 9/2/79 p67. Huntsville Grotto Newsletter 20(10) Oct79 p82.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.