By Michael Beebe and Brian Meyer
Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A peaceful night of camping in the Zoar Valley turned into a nightmare Sunday when violent thunderstorms and a deluge of rain flooded a small campground and had seven people fighting for their lives.
Six hours of clinging to cars and campers ended shortly before dawn when Capt. Kevin Caffery guided the Erie County Sheriff’s Office helicopter into the narrow gorge and slowly lifted each to safety.
“They were extremely lucky to get out,” Caffery said after the dramatic rescue Monday morning. “Had the water gone any higher, all . . . would have lost their lives.”
There were no serious injuries, with some of the drenched campers treated for hypothermia and exposure.
Volunteer firefighters said those rescued said they had spent from midnight to their 6:30 a. m. rescue standing in water, sometimes up to their chins.
“They looked like they had a long, hard night,” Charles Walker of the Lake Erie Beach Volunteer Fire Company recalled, adding that some of the stranded people appeared dazed and exhausted.
Caffery and his co-pilot, Art Litzinger, lowered Walker to the floodwaters using the hoist on the $2.3 million A-Star helicopter. Walker then loaded each of the campers into a rescue basket, and they were raised into the copter.
“I never thought I would be in a basket outside a helicopter being hoisted into a flood area,” said Walker, an employee at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
The rescue crews even saved several dogs from the campground.
“They were happy dogs,” Caffery said. “They wanted out of there. They were soaking wet.”
Walker said another dog, a big Rottweiler, was so frightened by the helicopter that its owner decided he and his pet would walk out of the flooded campground. They made it out safely.
Caffery, who has made dozens of rescues in the Zoar Valley in his career, said that Sunday and early Monday’s storms were different.
“I’ve been down there a lot,” he said. “It’s the worst I’ve seen.”
Fire officials concerned about the floodwaters called for the helicopter at about 3:30 a. m., Caffery said, but violent thunderstorms prevented him from flying.
Finally, the weather broke at about 5 a. m., he said. He and Litzinger donned night-vision goggles, flew to the Zoar Valley near Otto Road and saw the campers stranded below.
Guy Canonico Jr., the Lake Erie Beach fire chief, drove a truck down a steep road toward the campground. Walker said parts of the road were washed out and covered with debris.
On the way down, they passed a car that had been swept into the woods. They worried the road would collapse.
“I was a little nervous myself,” said Walker.
When the truck finally inched its way to an area near the evacuation site, Walker said, he was asked by the helicopter crew to board the basket, then get off in knee-high water so he could help the victims into the compartment.
“I told them, ‘Just don’t forget to come back for me,’ ” he joked.
The sheriff’s chopper, Air One, carried two campers at a time to a nearby landing area and then returned for another load until all were safe.
Walker, 54, has been a volunteer firefighter for 15 years and is secretary of ALERT -- Advanced Local Emergency Rescue Teams.
Crews are trained to perform all sorts of rescues, he said, but the experiences his team faced in Zoar Valley and, several hours earlier, in Gowanda were among the most challenging he has faced. Canonico echoed Walker’s sentiments.
“This is by far the worst [flooding] I’ve seen, and I’ve been doing this for 12 years,” the chief said.
For Caffery, it was another day at the office, a high-flying office he has piloted for more than two decades.
He said that, unfortunately, he has flown more bodies out of the dangerous Zoar Valley than live rescue victims and was happy he could help again.
His reaction to saving the campers? “Unbelievable, especially when you see cars going down the river.”
Erie County Executive Chris Collins, who later flew in the helicopter to inspect flood damage in Gowanda, said the people of Erie County are privileged to have a helicopter and a pilot like Caffery.
“Today indicates what a professional department we have,” Collins said. “They are ready every day to serve the public.”
Sheriff’s officials identified the rescued campers as Michael Fisher, 46; Dale Reese, 42; Tony Forma, 46; Jason Lewis, 36; Bill Bodner, 41; Lori Swigonski, 34; and Jim Towles, 35.
Copyright 2009 Buffalo News