Fisherman pulls 2 kayakers from Dock Street Dam in Harrisburg: ‘
They weren’t going to last long’
Apr. 21, 2025
By Christine Vendel - Pennlive.com
Craig Stoudt was fishing in his boat with his two sons Sunday afternoon when he saw two kayaks headed straight for the deadly Dock Street Dam in Harrisburg. He thought they were trying to maneuver through a gap in the middle of the dam, so he started recording what he thought was a daredevil stunt on his cell phone. It soon became apparent that wasn’t the case.
The woman in the first kayak, an inflatable one, started frantically paddling away from the dam, against the powerful current, in a futile attempt to avoid the dam.Her kayak turned around, went over the dam backward, then folded in half, but bounced back into shape with her still in it. The second kayak then went over the dam, dropping about 18 inches nose-first into the water. The kayak went straight down, then rolled over, spilling the man into the water. The plastic kayak then continued a barrel roll against the dam in the circulating waters.
Stoudt, who had been fishing below the dam, put his phone away, pulled up his anchor and sped his boat toward the kayakers. The cold, roiling water had them pinned against a dam where at least 31 people have drowned. Just this month, the widow of the 31st known victim filed a lawsuit against the city of Harrisburg saying the city isn’t doing enough to protect boaters from the deceptively dangerous low-head dam, which was built in 1913.
A lifelong boater, Stoudt was prepared for a rescue. He always carries an extra anchor line. So he asked his older son to clip it to a floatable cushion they had on board, then toss the line to the woman.
At this point, Stoudt couldn’t see the man. He was worried he was being held underwater by the dam’s powerful backwash. That’s why they are known as drowning machines.Stoudt positioned his boat about 20 yards south of the dam, just outside of the boil line, where his son threw the cushion. The cushion landed close to the woman, then the back current pulled the cushion toward her, where she could grab it. The water was pushing the woman’s kayak out about a foot, then pulling her back toward the dam.
“I knew they were in a bad spot,” Stoudt said. “The water was 60 degrees. They weren’t going to last long in that cold.” He yelled for the woman not to tug the rope. He didn’t want her to accidentally yank herself or his young son out of their boats. Instead, Stoudt put his boat in reverse and slowly pulled the kayak out of the danger zone.
That’s when Stoudt saw the man’s arm clinging to the side of the kayak. The kayakers got onto Stoudt’s boat when he started hearing sirens. It was 3:30 p.m. He called 911 to let first responders know he already had them in his boat, to avoid any unnecessary personnel getting into the dangerous waters near the dam.
The woman told Stoudt she didn’t know the dam was there and only saw it within 3 feet of going over. It is hard to spot, especially when water levels are high.
The dam's appearance and power can be deceiving. Here is the view 200 feet upstream of the dam, where the buoys are located in the water. But the dam is hardly visible.
A boat with emergency responders pulled up beside Stoudt and took the kayakers back to shore. The man told Stoudt he was 41 years old.
There were still more fish to catch, but Stoudt said he was ready to go home at that point. “I had enough excitement,” he said.
Fire Chief Brian Enterline said the river was sitting at 6 feet or 6.5 feet Sunday, which made the accident less dangerous than it could have been if the water were lower. The higher the water, the less power is generated from the current over the dam. The current creates a reverse current against the dam and circulating waters, known as a boil, like water boiling in a pot, that can be nearly impossible to escape.
The incident serves as a reminder, Enterline said, for anyone who gets on a body of water to research their planned path and look for hazards ahead of time.
Even without the dam, the Susquehanna River is uniquely dangerous because of its width, Enterline said. The Conodoguinet Creek, for example, is 30 to 50 feet wide, whereas the Susquehanna River is a mile wide. That means anyone who has trouble in the middle has to paddle a half mile to get to shore, while the strong current is pulling them south. “People underestimate how powerful the river is,” he said.
The city owns the dam and is responsible each year for putting warning buoys on the water. But the buoys won’t stay in place and are dangerous to install, so their introduction is timed each year to best match the water levels and the start of the recreation season. Enterline said they typically put the buoys out before Memorial Day, which is the plan this year.
Until then, signs posted along the riverbanks and on City Island warn of the danger of the dam.
