Tour guide Gary Russell had a group of people just ahead of the 19 cavers who were stuck fighting high water.
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Hidden River Cave Director David Foster said, “When we went in, (the water) was about a foot deep, and when we came out it was waist deep”.
People exit Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. Parker said the rescue effort was “pretty hard”.
Later that afternoon, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued and heavy rain began to fall, causing water levels to rise inside the cave. Tour guide Peggy Nims hugs a friend after she made it out of Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who were exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, .
He says authorities have not been in communication with the trapped people and are unsure where they are in the cave.
It stranded the cavers in a portion of the cave called The Attic, which has a higher ceiling.
Hart County Emergency Management Agency Director Kerry McDaniel told local television station WAVE that the group ventured as many as 4 miles (6.4 km) into the cave, but they were accompanied by experienced guides and had action plans in case of rising waters. He had no idea that a flash flood was pouring through the cave’s passages toward them, or that dozens of rescuers were already gathering at the entrance to begin a perilous hours-long journey to rescue them.
Then they saw water on some of the paths that had been dry previously.
“We continued toward the mouth of the cave where we eventually met up with multiple police and firemen who were waiting to rescue us”, he said.
When he noticed water coming out of the walls of the cave he had been exploring in Kentucky on Thursday, Clemson University student Riley Blais knew something was wrong.
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The all-clear was given at about 5:30 p.m. ET. They walked out on their own and were checked for hypothermia but declined further medical attention, he said. Horse Cave Fire Chief Donnie Parker said the risin. There’s only one way out, and they knew they’d have to come back out the way they came in.
