7-Year-Old Girl Killed In Flash Floods In Ashland
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A day after a 7-year-old girl was killed when her family’s car was washed away by flash floods at an Ashland campground, campers said they were still stunned by the suddenness of the disaster.
The Rhode Island girl was with her family as they tried to escape the Ames Brook Campground on Thursday night. The normally placid Ames Brook surged into the culvert the SUV was crossing, rolling it over and down the stream.
The girl’s father escaped and ran for help.
“We didn’t see his car. We didn’t see any people,” camper Stacie Brown said. “He was just standing there, screaming, ‘Help! Help!’”
Rescuers responded quickly, but the girl wasn’t found until three hours later when the water receded. She was still belted into the back seat of the mangled vehicle.
The girl’s mother and 5-year-old brother were found upstream, barely conscious. The mother had grabbed onto a tree and held on for an hour in the cold water.
“Still in floodwaters, she was able to grab a tree and also hold onto her son,” fire Deputy Chief Brad Ober said.
Campers described a night of confusion as floodwaters surged.
“Just amazement seeing this SUV going down,” witness Rose Misiaszekm said. “We couldn’t hear anybody if they were screaming or if there was anybody in the car. We weren’t sure.”
The vacation spot turned into a scene of washed-out roads, blocked culverts and damaged belongings. Nearly 30 campers were evacuated at the height of the storm and allowed back Friday morning, their vacations cut short.
“We’re going to go home today,” Misiaszekm said.
Many said they couldn’t believe that so much was damaged in an instant as they thought about the tragedy that happened.
“The little girl came to camp with her family, and she’s hopefully up in heaven,” camper John Vondola said. “That’s very sad.”
The mother and son suffered hypothermia, and the boy was in stable condition at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center after he was taken off a ventilator.
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