Dunedin Causway Disaster-9/29/07

[KITEBUM]

Around 4:00pm on Saturday-9/29/07 I went to the Dunedin Causway to check the wind, now knowing that it was blowing 8mph to 20mpn with a squall line coming I didn't take my gear. I got out of my truck and saw two guys help another launch, with difficulty. The wind was side on-on shore (NE) and they were on the northern side of the cauway (power lines). The flyer got up and rode along the shoreline for about 30 yards then came off the water and kicked off his board. He was standing in the water while his helper ran down to him. Then a gust hit and the rider was under the power line with the kite passed them, line over the power lines, the full squall line hit (check ikitesurf, it gusted close to 40mph) causing the rider to be pull up to power lines. There was a bright spark and the rider fell to the ground. At first the rider was unconcious but then was revived. Paramedics arrived and took him away, I don't know the condiotion of the rider as of right now. All I can say is that the location was horrible for any rider let alone while winds were gusting so high and a squall line coming. I have been riding 10 years and I had no intentions of riding there knowing what the conditions were. I feel partly responsible, very guilty, and am quite upset with myself, since I didn't say or yell out anything to the rider like, don't ride here, the guys helping him should have probably said something too. I hope the rider is doing ok and I also hope my fellow kitters don't do what I did and speak up when others are in bad conditions or locations. This was a horrifying day for everybody that witnessed this. Sorry I had to send this message out.

[kite-4-life]

Please kite safely...

[popeye]

Hope this guy is ok. Wonder if it was this guy:
http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=1790&highlight=dunedin

I wonder who else got whacked today. The gust at the skyway was 15 to 40.

I am sure someone must have gotten it.

[Unimog Bob]

Doesn't look good!
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2007/9/29/291388.html?title=Kite+surfing+accident+

[BigR]

Some guy named "Kenny" was just featured on action news as the guy who went into the powerlines, condition was life threatening

witness said the wind was really weird

[KITEBUM]

I've seen bad kitting accidents before but this was by far the worst and most horrifying. Made me aware of what can happen when you aren't paying attention. Still wish I would have said something, yea I know it sounds stupid to put blame on myself when I just got there and didn't know anything about any of the riders but I am all to aware of riding conditions and locations. Trust me I'll speak up next time and take part in preventing things like this. Just horrible,can't get it out of my head.

[BigR]

http://www.abcactionnews.com/media/news/a/5/f/a5ffd35a-1f51-4aad-a2f3-4d1fe6fecbac/Story.jpg (javascript:void(0);)

Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputies are investigating a kite-surfing accident late Saturday afternoon that seriously hurt 16-year-old Christopher Bryan Kenny of Clearwater.
The teen was kite-surfing near St. Joseph Sound when a gust of wind blew the kite into power lines on the north side of the Dunedin Causeway.
Witnesses told deputies that they saw an electric arc after Kenny fell about 20-30 feet to the ground. He was conscious while people in the area rendered aid.
The injuries are considered very serious. Kenny was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

[BigR]

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=f5b124ff-cf9c-4177-8366-af4f6fc84817

[popeye]

You can't blame yourself... it was his choice to rig and launch there without considering the changing conditions.

Sounds like he's going to survive fortunately... but not without a hell of a lot of discomfort and huge medical bills. Hopefully he'll recover quickly.

Is that 4 injuries already this year due to the massive gusts? The season hasn't even started yet! It's going to be an ugly season.

[Wolfie]

Truly horrible. I will say a prayer for him.
I saw the line coming on Doppler, then saw the 40Knt gusts at Skyway. I wanted to call Skyway to warn everyone. I need to collect everyone's telephone numbers. Did anyone get whacked at Skyway? I heard there was a close call at lassing.

[Skyway Scott]

I hope Christopher recovers, and soon. This is a horrible story.

As bad as the story is, having another kiter get injured tomorrow or next week from not discussing the situation would only add insult to injury. I think this unfortunately is the 5th time in 2 months we have had riders injured as as a result of being lofted from one of these east wind spike events in the late afternoon.

5 of 7 days this week the wind filled in quickly (spiked) from only 10 knots to around 25 or even 40 knots as the wind filled in from the East. Last week was very similar.
Today was not a freak wind event, it was part of a fairly predictable pattern.
The timing on all 5 spikes this week was within a half hour of 4 pm.
This event always looks the same (clouds moving in from the east) and can be spotted as it approaches.
Christopher is obviously new to kiting, as are many local riders, and was not aware of this pattern. I am in no way trying point the finger at someone seriously injured who was not aware of possible danger.
I feel horrible about the incident.

At the same time, I do feel it's necessary to shed some light on some of the causes, so that others have opportunity to avoid getting lofted or caught in these wind spikes in the future and lessen the odds of this happening again.

Let's play it safe on these East winds. If it is only blowing 12 knots and it is forecast to blow, please keep eyes peeled for clouds coming in from the east. The odds of it spiking as it cools are very high on days like today.

The telephone number for PORTS is 1 866 TB PORTS (827 6787).
If you see clouds coming from the east in the late afternoon, with totally blue sky behind them, I would call PORTS before launching.
It very commonly (but not always) spikes at Port of Tampa about a half hour before it reaches both the SW and EB (I don't know about Dunedin). If it says 20 or so at Port of Tampa, it will be much more by the time it reaches the SW and EB.
It gusted today at Port of Tampa to 35 at 3:30, a half hour prior to the "wave" of wind reaching the SW.
That's a huge spike for that side of the bay and is a huge hint of what was to come.

Prayers to Christopher and his family.

I heard the SW riders and EB riders are okay. A couple of very close calls during the spike, but no one got hurt badly at those two spots.

[ricki]

I wish Christopher all speed in recovering fully and what comfort that can be found at this tragic time to his family and friends.

[popeye]

This name sounds familiar but I can't think of a face... anyone know this guy?

Just wondering if anyone has any updates on his condition...

[Skyway Scott]

Hey guys. Can someone post a response to this?
http://www.baynews9.com/Chat.cfm?event=evtAddThread&ThreadTypeId=1&ContentId=291388

I have tried 5 times, it keeps rejecting my post.
It's a shame Chris got hurt. I am concerned that people will think kiting is only for those who wish to risk death or is exceptionally dangerous, even when done in a safe fashion.

[popeye]

Yikes those are 4800V power lines... they are stepped down to 220 at the transformer.

If he bridged the 3 top lines it could have been fatal.