2015 Philmont Scout Ranch flash flood

On the morning of June 27, 2015, heavy rain occurred in a great portion of the Scouting camp Philmont Scout Ranch, which is near Cimarron, New Mexico, United States, causing a flash flood. The flood also affected some other nearby areas in Colfax County that morning, including highways and small towns around Philmont. One youth Scout, Alden Brock, who was situated in a campsite within the staff camp Indian Writings, drowned while being swept away by the flood and died. However, no other injuries or fatalities resulted from the flood. Alden's death received nationwide attention, especially from the Scouting community. The 2015 flash flood is the largest documented flood in the history of Philmont, outweighing the similar 1965 flood.

Background

Throughout much of the summer of 2015, parts of New Mexico were experiencing a monsoon season, likely due to an El Niño.^[1][2][2] Throughout the season, there had been many other flash flood warnings across New Mexico due to large storms.^[3][1] Additionally, on July 7, nearly two weeks following the Philmont flood, another flash flood occurred in Ghost Ranch, which is near Abiquiú, New Mexico, that destroyed several facilities at the ranch, but caused no injuries or deaths.

On June 17, 1965, fifty years before the 2015 flood, a similar flash flood had occurred at Philmont Scout Ranch. The 1965 flood, with water levels of up to 12.42 feet at the highest, was the largest recorded flood in the history of Philmont until the 2015 flood, with water levels in some areas higher than 20 feet. Both of these floods likely occurred due to El Niño seasons. However, the two floods had geographical differences, as Rayado Canyon and the Cimarron River had overflowed in 1965, and tributaries of Ponil Creek had overflowed in 2015.^[4]

Alden Brock

Alden Brock, the youth Scout who died on account of the flood, was born in 2001 in Rosemont, Sacramento County, California, a town next to the city of Sacramento.^[5] He resided in Rosemont for the entirety of his life, where he attended and graduated from Albert Einstein Middle School and was involved in several sports.^{[6][5][7][8][9]} Alden was a member of Golden Empire Council's Troop 380^[10][11] for two years,^[6] and had achieved the rank of Star Scout before his death.^[5]

At Philmont, Alden was accompanied by Crew 380 on his trek through Philmont. His crew, hence the name, consisted entirely of members of his own troop, Troop 380,^[10] who had registered for the trek two years earlier.^[12] The crew consisted of eight youth Scouts,^[13] three adult advisors, and one ranger who was assisting the crew.^{[14][15][16][6][17][18][12][10][19][20][21][22][23][24][note 1]} The morning of June 27, when the flood occurred, was the morning of the crew's third day of their twelve-day trek, when they were situated at a campsite in Indian Writings^[7] near North Ponil Canyon^[14] that was about 20 feet above a small portion of Ponil Creek.^{[12][6][15][11]}

Course of events

On the night of June 26, the night before the flood, there were reports of hail^[2] and light rain^[7] in some areas of Philmont. On the early hours of the morning of June 27, the rain became heavier. At around 3:30 AM that morning, the National Weather Service issued a statement highlighting the threat of a flash flood in the area.^[7] At around 4:30 AM, a flash flood, with water levels of over 20 feet at the highest,^[19][25] occurred in several areas of Philmont.^[10][26][27] Some reported loud thunder and nearby lightning strikes before and during the flood.^[7][6][28]

Outside of Philmont, there had been reports of mudflows and flooding along U.S. Route 64.^[12] Boulders also tumbled down from canyons in the Cimarron area, causing damage to and blockage of roads.^[29]

Death of Alden Brock

That morning, an estimated 20 to 30 feet of water rushed down from the top of North Ponil Canyon moving towards the campsite of Crew 380 in the camp Indian Writings,^[7] causing four members of the crew, including Alden Brock, the ranger assisting the crew,^[6] and two other youth Scouts, to be swept away from their campsite by the flood at approximately 4:30 AM.^{[24][8][30][31][16][32][11][18][10][33][12][13][34][25][22][20][21][14][35][19]} Staff at Philmont were able to quickly locate and retrieve the two other Scouts and the ranger alive, but were unable to find Alden.^{[24][36][16][8][6][32][18][30][17][15][34][11][33][14][21][23][13][35][19]} The entire campsite in which Crew 380 was situated was washed away.^{[12][16][10][7]}

The New Mexico State Police arrived at around 9:35 AM on a search and rescue mission for Alden.^[23] They found Alden dead at around 11:00 AM,^[13] approximately one mile away from the location from which he was originally swept.^{[24][18][25][6][10][11][12][34][14][20][19][35]} The identity of Alden Brock was not released to the general public^{[24][19][35][13][21][20][12]} until June 29,^[22][15][10] two days after his death, because of pending approval from the Brock family.^[19][18]

Aftermath

Shortly after the incident, Philmont staff notified the family of Alden Brock as well as other families of Scouts involved in the flood.^[27][19][21] Many crews at Philmont associated with the flood were temporarily withheld by Philmont staff until further notice because of logistical issues and because of significant damage to trails.^[27] Philmont and the New Mexico State Police also offered counseling for those involved in the flood.^[25][17]

Many crews affected by the flood had lost many necessary items, such as tents, backpacks, and other camping gear.^[26][37] Most of these items were replaced for free by staff members in Philmont trading facilities.^[26] Several trails and bridges were also severely damaged by the flood.^[26][38]

After the search and rescue mission for Alden, the New Mexico State Police investigated the flood further with the intent of providing more information to improve future preparedness,^[12] but came to no conclusions.^[7] Many people, including the investigators, believed that the incident could not have easily been prevented.^{[7][25][32][28][33]}

Because of debris, mudflows, and road blockage, a large portion of U.S. Route 64 in New Mexico was closed for a period of nearly one full day.^[29][12]

Reactions

Crews affected by the flood were given the opportunity to choose whether they were to continue their treks or to leave Philmont. Some crews decided to leave Philmont,^[13] while many decided to continue their treks.

One youth Scout wrote to his mother from Philmont, stating:^[17][25]

We’re safe mom, but our hearts are heavy. Even though we didn’t know the kid who died — he is our brother in scouting. We held a memorial for him on the trail and are praying for his family.

After the flood, Alden's Crew 380 returned to base camp,^[12] where members of the crew were given medical checkups and counseling.^[6] The crew decided to finish their trek after this in honor of Alden,^[25][9][30] agreeing that Alden would have strongly desired the continuation of the trek had he still been alive.^[6][39]

Shortly after the flood, a campaign arose for Scouts across the United States to voluntarily send CARE packages in order to help comfort the family and friends of Alden Brock or the staff at Philmont Scout Ranch.^[30] These CARE packages could either have been sent to Philmont, to the home of the Brock family, or to the homes of anyone else with a connection to Alden.^[11] Additionally, another fundraiser was created in California by Troop 380 exclusively for the Brock family,^[30][6] which is sometimes referred to as the Brock Fund.^[40]

Shortly after Alden's death, it was reported, as sympathizers consistently attempted to visit the Brock family, that the family requested privacy in order to reflect over their loss of Alden.^[10][7][9] Alden's parents posted a note on the front door of their home, which read:^[34][16][10]

The family is devastated regarding the tragedy that occurred at Philmont Ranch. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

The Brock family traveled to New Mexico to retrieve Alden's body in late June. The family asked for his body to be buried in his Scouting uniform.^[16]

Members of Troop 380 who did not attend the Philmont trek, including the Scoutmaster, held a meeting on June 29 in Rosemont, which over 200 people attended, where they discussed the loss of Alden Brock.^[6][30] A funeral for Alden was held at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sacramento on July 8,^[39][30][16] which was attended by more than 800 people,^[7] including over 400 Scouts from various troops.^[41][8][9] Alden was buried at Sierra Hills Memorial Park that day.^[39][5]

On September 28, Troop 380 gave Roger and Cindy Brock, the parents of Alden, the Spirit of the Eagle Award, a Scouting honorary posthumous special recognition for a family member under the age of 21 who has lost his or her life in an accident or through illness.^[30]

Notes

References