10 Kayakers Pulled From Swollen Waters

Ten kayakers on the Patuxent River in Prince George's County had to be rescued yesterday when they and nearly two dozen others, participants in an annual outing, were briefly stranded in their boats by the surging waters, officials said.

In all, 32 kayakers from a group sponsored by Patuxent Riverkeeper were swept into partially submerged trees or otherwise ran into trouble about a mile south of Queen Anne Bridge. The 10 were spotted by helicopter and rescued by boat.

The rest made it back to land on their own. No one was injured, authorities said.

"There was quite a number of them," said Maj. Erroll George of the Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

The excursion was the first leg of a four-day trip called Patuxent Sojourn, which was open to novice and experienced paddlers.

Lynne Cherry of Smithsburg, Md., said she was floating along peacefully when the water level seemed to surge suddenly and tree limbs and other debris made it difficult to paddle. Almost immediately, she said, the situation became precarious.

"It was a flash flood, I believe. Either that or a dam release," she said. "I was sitting there waiting to figure out what to do next; the river continued to rise until the whole forest behind me, as far as we could see, was flooded."

Cherry said she paddled into an eddy where the currents weren't as strong and called to a friend on land to summon help.

A Maryland Natural Resources Police officer and a member of the Laurel Volunteer Rescue Unit were the first to reach the stranded kayakers in a swift-water rescue boat, said Sgt. Art Windemuth of the Natural Resources Police.

Some of the kayakers were taken to Queen Anne Landing, and the rest to the 4H Center on the Anne Arundel County side of the river, where they were evaluated by paramedics.

The rescue came less than a half-mile into what was supposed to be an eight-mile excursion for about 50 kayakers ages 9 to 60. It had begun 30 minutes earlier at the Patuxent River 4H Center and was expected to end at Mount Calvert.

After the rescue, the kayakers were bused to their campsite. Some planned to return to the river today.

Phone calls to the Riverkeeper office yesterday were not returned.

Windemuth said recent rains and a tree that had fallen across the river appeared to be the main factors that forced the rescue. He said all kayakers and boaters should use caution this weekend on rivers in the region.

"The recent rainfall has made many streams and rivers high, and everybody has to judge their ability on how they can handle these swift currents," he said.

Cherry said the trip was supposed to be her first day of relaxation in months. "Going down the river corridor, you feel like you're going back in time," said Cherry. "It's really wonderful. Today was not like that."