The Herald-News - News Story

Pastor Shane Gabbard thought bringing a menâ€™s group from his church to Watts Bar for some fishing would be a good day-long outing.

He didnâ€™t anticipate how long of a day it would turn out to be, though.

â€œI was beginning to wonder if I was going to see home again,â€ he said after being rescued from the 15-hour ordeal that had some of the boaters literally kissing the earth afterwards.
Gabbard pastors New Zion Baptist Church in Jackson County, Ky., a few miles southeast of Lexington. He and the menâ€™s group from the church arrived at Watts Bar at about 11 a.m. last Friday for a whole day of fishing, he said.

The groupâ€™s three boats ï¿1/2" two pontoon boats and one fishing boat ï¿1/2" were backed up close to the wall of the dam, when sirens began wailing.

The sirens, along with flashing lights, are a part of a new warning sign that lets boaters know to clear the area around the dam, according to TVA official Jim Allen. It signals that the facility is about to start up its turbines, Allen said.

As TVAâ€™s turbines kicked in, water began churning in front of the boats, sandwiching them between the dam and the boil line ï¿1/2" the spot in which water is flushed back to the surface from the turbines.

Gabbard and his group, though, couldnâ€™t escape from the turbinesâ€™ current, because one of the boatâ€™s engines stalled.

The force of the water churned by the turbines thrashed them against the back wall, behind the turbines, and pinned the three boats there.

"The water was so turbulent,â€ Gabbard said. â€œIt turns just like a whirlpool."

Gabbard managed to get a 911 call out on his dying cell phone, but due to cell towers being out of service in Rhea County that afternoon, Knox County dispatchers picked up the call.

The dispatchers relayed the call to Rhea County dispatchers who immediately got Rhea County Rescue Squad boats into the water, along with Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and Rhea County Sheriffâ€™s Department watercraft.

But they were unable to find the missing boaters anywhere on the waterways.

As rescue crews continued their search, Gabbard and his group tried to pass the time without panicking as the night approached.

"We just tried to make the best of it," he said.

After several hours, Gabbard said he began to fear the worst.

"The waters were getting worse instead of better," he said.

Despite their fears, Gabbard said the group of 11, mostly adults with some teenagers, managed to keep each other calm. The group kept fishing, even as the thrashing waters pounded their boats, and some even tried to sleep.

"We just hung together, we prayed together and tried to make the best of a bad situation," he said.

Finally, at about 4:30 a.m., some 15 hours after the damâ€™s sirens sounded, Gabbard got enough reception on his cell phone to make another 911 call. This time he was able to tell dispatchers exactly where they were, and rescue workers requested that TVA shut down the turbines temporarily.

With the turbines off, Gabbard and his group were able to escape from the area near the dam wall.

Gabbard said one of the men in the group was so happy to be back on land he kissed the ground.

"That Tennessee dirt tastes pretty good right now," Gabbard said of the smooch.

Rhea County Rescue Squad member Doug Reed said what makes this particular situation remarkable is that the group was stranded for so long.

"Theyâ€™re lucky that they stayed calm for that long,"Reed said.

Fishermen with powerful enough boats often brave the waters where the Kentucky group was stranded, Reed said. But the church groupâ€™s boats werenâ€™t equipped to be in that area of the lake.

Brian Letner of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency said he has seen similar situations end sadly.

"The outcome usually isnâ€™t as good," he said.

Gabbard, meanwhile, said he had a good time fishing, but he doesnâ€™t know if heâ€™ll be back to Watts Bar anytime soon.

"My wife told me I wasnâ€™t coming back," he said.

Michael Reneau can be contacted at michael.reneau@rheaheraldnews.com.