River flows pose risk to holiday swimmers

River flows pose risk to holiday swimmers
Heavy rains are making for faster currents, a likely factor in a man's death Tuesday on the Saco River.
By DAVID HENCH
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald

The drowning of a Baldwin man in the Saco River underscores the treacherous conditions in Maine's rivers heading into the busy July 4 weekend, say state officials.

Stephen Hawkes, 33, was swimming with his wife, Luz, and a friend about 75 yards below the Hiram Falls Dam when the group decided to head for an island near the far shore around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The current in the river -- swollen by recent thunderstorms upriver -- was too powerful.

Hawkes' wife and the friend rode the current downstream and climbed onto the riverbank. Hawkes kept fighting the current, apparently became exhausted and went underwater.

"He made it to the middle of the river, and that's where the issue arose," said Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. "We believe the current may have been too strong for him."

Wardens scoured the river Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. Hawkes' body was found about 150 yards downstream at 11:05 a.m. Wednesday.

Wardens say that even people who are familiar with the river must be cautious because conditions can change quickly and the recent rains have added to the power and speed of the river.

"You're going to experience a river with a totally different character than a normal fourth of July," said Warden Norman Lewis, a former river guide. "River conditions now are unusually high for this time of year."

The Saco River is about a foot above normal for the July 4 weekend and the Androscoggin River is about 3 feet above normal, Lewis said.

"It's up into the trees on the shoreline," he said. "You have a lot more obstacles than you normally have, deeper water and greater hydraulic pressure."

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