DON'T tie yourself to a rope if you do go in the water. A safety tether may seem like a good idea when entering a flooded stream. Quite often a tethered rescuer gets swept off his feet, pushed underwater, and held there by the current. Two firefighters died this way in 1995. DO get appropriate training before an incident.
Flooding is probably the most common natural disaster.
It knows no season nor region. Yet, too often the need for training is ignored until after a high-profile incident. This article can do no more than identify some of the more obvious, avoidable mistakes that have killed rescuers in the past. To insure the safety of rescuers and the effective rescue of others, some form of swiftwater rescue training and awareness is essential. Slim Ray 2000.