River turns wild

Published on Sunday, September 30th, 2012, under Blog

A late winter, white-water rafting expedition, goes wild – turning into a near disaster for Ellis and crew. The expedition was going well until half way through the week long-journey, when the river unexpectedly flooded to over ten times its normal volume, with massive rainfall in the high country at the rivers source.

The normally placid Clarence River turned into a raging brown torrent rising rapidly and making rafting incredibly challenging. At the top of the 60 km lower gorge Ellis’ raft was flipped by the 2.5 mere pressure waves, sending him and his crew into the river.

Ellis along with two friends were washed approximately half a kilometer down stream before managing to claw their way out on the steep bluffs of the canyon walls. Another crew member clung to the upturned raft and was swept over two kilometers down stream before managing to escape the torrential current. She was lucky to escape with her life.

A private helicopter rescue was organized to evacuate 3 of the 15 crew members. The remaining crew waited for the river to abate before being able to continue the expedition.

The raft along with much of their equipment was swept away and not seen again until 3 days later. A second helicopter was called in to locate the missing raft and equipment.