A horrific tragedy took place as hurricane Bill passed by off the Maine coastline when a large group of people gathered at Acadia National Park to take in the spectacle. The crowd was too close and when a large and powerful wave crashed in, it took a number of people including a family of 3 out to sea. Unfortunately a 7 year old girl was pulled out of the water dead by the US Coastguard. Her mother and father were rescued alive, mother sustaining injuries she will recover fully from.

It’s always a huge tragedy when a child is killed, and an even bigger tragedy when it is entirely and easily avoidable. Acadia National Park has 15 miles of coastline and signs warning of dangerous surf were posted and Sand beach along with Thunder Hole were blocked off. This only served to push people further along and into undeveloped areas that were not patrolled. When officials state things like this it makes me cringe because it gives the feel of excuses. A hurricane was forecast to move past the area off shore and with it create some huge waves. This is something that was known in advance and park rangers as well as police should have patrolled the area on foot to prevent anyone from entering the area. In countries that have experience with hurricanes this is done regularly and with great success, so why not here. My experience with Hurricane Wilma was quite the learning experience. I spent the 2 days prior to landfall of the hurricane watching how the Mexican authorities, resort staff, police, and military put an extensive emergency plan into action. It was flawless and the safety of every tourist was first and foremost. The miles of beach were completely off limits 12 hours before landfall and guarded by police and military wherever you looked.

The US has a history of poor hurricane emergency management and the resulting large number of related deaths have been headline news for years. Maybe it would be a good thing to look to countries like Mexico and the Caribbean countries for assistance.

I file this one under Just Dumb.

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