6 people rescued after raft tumbles over waterfall

1. I was here this day visiting and i remember hearing all the sirens and then hearing a raft went over the falls!

2. You can get a guide on the middle section of the yough, but it costs way more than just renting a raft. It's a calm relaxing float down the river with a small section of class 2 Rapids. I have no idea how you couldn't see the sign. My 5 year old saw the signs and let me know. It's also only about a 20 foot drop at the most.

3. That’s not thirty feet bud

4. It do go down

5. They missed several warning signs… Literally.

6. Ya dont get a guide for the middle yough lol

7. I think they wanted to do it

8. "Didn't have a guide" is probably inaccurate/misleading advice. This river was raging over 5 feet-flood level. Normal level is 1.5 to 2.0 feet. I question the rental company for renting a raft at this level. The trip was to be run on the Middle Yough, a Class II run that is absolutely perfect for a non-guided trip. But only at low water. Of course, one issue with the Middle Yough is that before you get to the Lower Yough (Class II with a IV and "Dimple Rock", a rapid with an undercut rock that has trapped and drowned people), you encounter this waterfall (OhioPyle Falls). At normal flows, the warning signs are very visible and you have plenty of time to get to shore, no matter how inexperienced your group is. But at flood stage, stuff happens. Flooded rivers require extreme awareness and considerable skill. Things move fast and the river is very powerful, often so much so that one missed stroke can make the difference between life and death. Agreed though that the lifejackets were the biggest reason for the high survival rate here. Even at low water, in the Class II rapids upstream, you need to have a properly fitted PFD-people die all the time in what seem to be placid rapids. Another factor that saved these people is the angle of the raft as it goes over the falls. You usually want to hit a hydraulic straight-on, full force. Definitely not sideways. Though if you look at the rafters with their paddles not moving (particularly the "leader", the person if the stern who is holding his up in the air), they just got lucky. They also somehow managed to take the one "run" in this falls that you can do and survive. So yea, a guide at this water level would have been better, but I sure wouldn't want to guide a bunch of newbees at 5 feet, even on the Middle Yough. Again, I question the sanity of the raft rental company here. And I'll bet their insurance company is questioning too-very close call. This isn't the first type incident. Amazing river rescue story if you have some time….https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Accident/detail/accidentid/34359 Yes you are correct. Ohiopyle Falls is 20 feet high. It is illegal to run the falls, except once a year, there is an extreme kayak race over this waterfall. I've heard it's a fairly easy run, if you are good and take the right route. Never done it….maybe someday.

9. I literally swim in this river all the time I live 15 minutes away from the falls!!😱😱

10. That's Ohiopyle falls and it's only 15-20 foot drop…not 40 ft hahhaaa ABC loves to embellish the news lmfao

11. Pacha:
    Uh-oh.

    Kuzco:
    Don't tell me. We're about to go over a huge waterfall.

    Pacha:
    Yep.

    Kuzco:
    Sharp rocks at the bottom?

    Pacha:
    Most likely.

    Kuzco:
    Bring it on.

12. All white I bet

13. LMAO

14. Strong team building. It's better than a Tony Robbins firewall.

15. The footage of the “parks recreations manager” looks like it’s from the 1970’s. 🎥🎞📺
    I’m happy they are all safe now. 🎉

16. They said like 40 ft that is NOT a high waterfall the raft came right back up. I guess they didn't know the raft had handles.either? This is like that my Everest shit lol

17. That waterfall came out of nowhere!!!….. LOLOL

18. dude y’all gotta pay attention to the signs. one said waterfall ahead. they weren’t kidding 🤦‍♂️

19. Whose their tour guide??

20. 40 feet? Are you serious?! What are they looking at? That's not 40 feet. LOL! 15-20 feet at the most. It was about 2 raft lengths, maybe a little more. It actually wasn't that bad of a fall.

21. Not 30FT

22. Idiots

23. Am I the only one who was sort of sad they all were ok

24. I'm not getting into a raft or a boat in the middle of a lake. I can't swim! 😬

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