LINVILLE, N.C. -- The Linville-Central Rescue Squad held a training Saturday for their volunteers and some Avery County deputies.

What You Need To Know

  • Water rescue training was held at Land Harbor Saturday

  • The Linville-Central Rescue Squad trained volunteers

  • Deputies were also trained to help people stuck in water

  • They trained for steady and swift water

The training gave participants several situations where they would have to rescue someone in both swift and steady water.

Trainees learned how to throw a rope to someone, and how to safely get off a boat and get someone else in.

Training Captain Kyle Kitchin says with more people heading up the mountain and all the rain the area has been seeing, it was a perfect time to do the training.

He says it is essential for as many people as possible to be trained so whoever arrives first can assess the situation properly.

Recently they have had to complete two different rescues at Upper Creek Falls after water rose quickly.

"Water will be funneled into a smaller area, and then suddenly the volume increases dramatically and then in doing so you have got a lot of water in a very small area and it just becomes unswimmable," Kitchin says.

They are asking anyone who goes on a hike or out on the water to keep an eye on the weather and stay out of the water for a half hour when there is thunder or lightning.

Kitchin says it doesn't always matter what the weather is doing where you are but matters more what it is doing five miles away.