A popular & SAD & HORRIFIC way to die in ALASKA.

2889 Views 67 Replies 26 Participants Last post by Alaskajohn, 7 d ago

Sourdough

Discussion Starter · 13 d ago

A DETACHMENT

AK23050316
Location: Hope
Type: Search and Rescue / Death Investigation
Dispatch Text: On May 21, 2023, at 5:52 pm, the Alaska State Troopers were notified that an adult male was stuck in the tidal mud flats near Hope. Troopers and rescue teams from the Hope Sunrise Fire Department and Girdwood Fire Department responded to the scene. Rescue efforts were unsuccessful, and 20-year-old Illinois resident Zachary Porter died at approximately 6:43 pm after being submerged by the incoming tide. Rescue teams recovered Porter’s body at approximately 6:00 am on May 22, 2023. Next of kin has been notified.

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Cigars

· #2 · 13 d ago

That is tragic. Here's more on it..

headtopics.com

Illinois man stuck on mud flats near Hope drowns on incoming tide, Alaska State Troopers say

A 20-year-old Illinois man died Sunday evening after rescuers were unable to free him from the Turnagain Arm mud flats near Hope as the tide rose, Alaska State Troopers said.

headtopics.com

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Exarmyguy

· #3 · 13 d ago

I guess they need more signage for stupid people.

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Forrest Mosby

· #4 · 13 d ago

Ive dug clams out there…or TRIED to dig them..,they squirt away from the uninitiated🤔

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sporksradiant

· #5 · 13 d ago

I just gotta say....did no one have access to any type of scuba gear that could have saved this guy?

It seems to me that could have at least bought them time - slap an oxygen source on the guy, once the tide raises it'll assist in loosening the ground up making it easier to get him out.

Maybe they sent for it and just didn't have time though.

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DJfan

· #6 · 13 d ago

Whoever wrote that article couldn't pass third grade writing.

Sad story, though.

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Alaskajohn

· #7 · 13 d ago

I cringe every time I see someone out there on the flats. Horrible way to go.

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Vinegar Joe

· #8 · 13 d ago

Sad and tragic indeed.

That 20 year old guy probably did not know about the Ak mud ... probably not even about quicksand.

There were - past tense - some experienced people in the lower 48 who had firsthand experience.

His majesty Senator Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne (spell?) could have provided guidance.

Summary: Like the Senator, don't waste time calling the police.

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Wulfthang

· #9 · 13 d ago

Don't they have airboats around there? It seems to me: If you (EMS) have a large area that is impassable to regular boats half of the time, it would be a good idea to have an airboat. They don't do well in waves or high winds but an airboat would be fun on a mud flat!

When I was a kid, my Sister and I walked out on the mud flats on the Dutch coast. We got all of the way to the water, about a mile from land in mud up to our thighs. Then we heard a loud horn blasting away. "What do you think that means"? "I'm not sure" I told her. "But I think maybe it's connected to that"!

There were hundreds of little mintaure geysers spurting up thru the mud all around us. No no no! You're wrong! It wasn't the tide coming in. It was the tide coming up! It came right up thru the mud. We had water up to our waists by the time we got back to shore. The mud just liquified!

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Surveyor

· #10 · 13 d ago

The marshland in eastern NC and SC are the same way. There’s a right and wrong way to walk in that stuff. The saving grace is the tidal influence isn’t anything like in Alaska.

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Alaskajohn

· #11 · 13 d ago

Wulfthang said:
Don't they have airboats around there? It seems to me: If you (EMS) have a large area that is impassable to regular boats half of the time, it would be a good idea to have an airboat. They don't do well in waves or high winds but an airboat would be fun on a mud flat!

When I was a kid, my Sister and I walked out on the mud flats on the Dutch coast. We got all of the way to the water, about a mile from land in mud up to our thighs. Then we heard a loud horn blasting away. "What do you think that means"? "I'm not sure" I told her. "But I think maybe it's connected to that"!

There were hundreds of little mintaure geysers spurting up thru the mud all around us. No no no! You're wrong! It wasn't the tide coming in. It was the tide coming up! It came right up thru the mud. We had water up to our waists by the time we got back to shore. The mud just liquified!

Hope is a long way from anywhere by airboat. And besides, the ice cold water would have killed him in about 10 minutes from when the water hit him, even if “SCUBA” gear was on hand. The tide here moves quick and he would have been covered in short order. The emergency call came in and he was dead in less than an hour after the call came in. Simple not enough time for the unfortunate young man. About two weeks ago someone was in a similar situation but near enough to the Girdwood fire rescue to get there and save him.

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ajole

· #12 · 13 d ago

sporksradiant said:
I just gotta say....did no one have access to any type of scuba gear that could have saved this guy?

There's some in Anchorage. But most people don't dive in the north Pacific, and Anchorage is 87 road miles from Hope....
Not to mention...how do you get the gear out to him, in between the time you have enough water to float, and the time he gets covered??

Wulfthang said:
Don't they have airboats around there?

No, they don't.

Wulfthang said:
It seems to me: If you (EMS) have a large area that is impassable to regular boats half of the time, it would be a good idea to have an airboat.

It seems to me: If you have to maintain and train on an airboat to save one guy per decade, it would not be a wise use of taxpayer money.

Funny thing, one of the first things I saw when I looked the place up was this:

"Never walk out onto the mud flats. People have died by getting stuck in the glacial silt and being drowned by the incoming tide!"

Wulfthang said:
They don't do well in waves or high winds but an airboat would be fun on a mud flat!

Turnagain Arm is one of the places where you can see "bore tides". So waves.....yeah, that's a thing.

See less See more

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Jiminy Cricket

· #13 · 13 d ago

This is just another example of humans losing touch with nature. Add the chuckle heads falling off a cliff taking a selfie.

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country_boy

· #14 · 13 d ago

sporksradiant said:
I just gotta say....did no one have access to any type of scuba gear that could have saved this guy?

It seems to me that could have at least bought them time - slap an oxygen source on the guy, once the tide raises it'll assist in loosening the ground up making it easier to get him out.

Maybe they sent for it and just didn't have time though.

It’s like a 30’ tidal change, and it happens twice a day. farther up, you can hear the tide flowing upstream in creeks and rivers. And I don’t recall Hope even having a VFD. And I’m not sure it’s safe to be out in airboats in the tide.

Other areas of Alaska with similar soils, but without the huge tides, have better record of saves, using ideas like you mention.

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ImStillHere

· #15 · 13 d ago

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UserNameTaken

· #16 · 13 d ago

Sad. This is the second or third time I've heard of people drowning. Is there no way to get them out? Like high pressure water hose blasted next to them? Could store one on the beach with a big pump?

We had quicksand in parts of my grandpa's oil field. They were marked, but I remember him teaching me about it and poison ivy, lot of that too. I sure wish the oil hadn't run out...

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Alaskajohn

· #17 · 13 d ago

UserNameTaken said:
Sad. This is the second or third time I've heard of people drowning. Is there no way to get them out? Like high pressure water hose blasted next to them? Could store one on the beach with a big pump?

We had quicksand in parts of my grandpa's oil field. They were marked, but I remember him teaching me about it and poison ivy, lot of that too. I sure wish the oil hadn't run out...

Of course there is. But you need to be near civilization like this man was:

https://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article275195541.html

Hope, AK is not near anything but bears and mountains.

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Sourdough

Discussion Starter · #18 · 13 d ago

UserNameTaken said:
Sad. This is the second or third time I've heard of people drowning. Is there no way to get them out? Like high pressure water hose blasted next to them? Could store one on the beach with a big pump?

The LARGE CITY, Fire Companies have that equipment. Fire Companies are few and far-far-far between in Alaska. Turnagain Arm & Cook Inlet are likely several hundred miles of wilderness, with the exception of Anchorage, Alaska.

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Sourdough

Discussion Starter · #19 · 13 d ago

There just another stuck in the tide flats rescue about ten days ago at Twenty Mile Creek, also located on Turnagain Arm.

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Pabstman

· #20 · 13 d ago

I can't imagine the pure panic he went through. Pure torture.

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