Slippery footing plus the increased velocity of the current can easily cause a life threatening situation. Danger to swimmers is still slight but care must be taken. The gorge is a popular site for outdoor activities like kayaking, boating, fishing, and hiking enthusiasts. Strong currents exist in the Upper Potomac River that can drag you under. https://www.mymcmedia.org/beware-the-dangers-of-the-potomac-river-video And, if you survive the swim but get caught by park or river police, you might be facing a fine and community service. Unfortunately, litter is a significant threat to the local critters that call the Potomac River home. river level is at the caution or danger level or when the Potomac River Advisory is in effect. : 5 The aircraft then plunged into the freezing Potomac River. There is little to no danger to swimmers. The Potomac Gorge is home to over 1,000 species of animals, making it one of the most ecologically diverse regions in the country. A sign-board near the riverbank at one of the entrances to Potomac National Park offers direct evidence of the river’s perils — 57 drownings in ten years between Great Falls and Little Falls — about an 11-mile stretch. Wading in the waters around Great Falls is prohibited. River Classifications: Class I: (Easy) Moving water with small disturbances on the surface and a few small waves. Discover the most commons types of plastic litter that are harming local critters and find out how you can help. Danger zones and restricted area. (a) Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, VA - (1) The areas. 6. Portions of the Upper Machodoc Creek and Potomac River near Dahlgren, VA as described below: (i) Lower zone. While the Potomac River certainly is part of the Chesapeake Bay in a geographical sense, once you cruise past the St. Marys and Wicomico rivers, it takes on its own unique personality, making it much like that of a true inland river such as the Ohio or Upper Hudson. Vessels bound up or down the river anchor anywhere near the channel where the bottom is soft; vessels sometimes anchor in Cornfield Harbor or St. Marys River. Potomac River, USA. Wild, undammed rivers make dangerous neighbors. The plane hit six cars and a truck on the bridge, and tore away 97 ft (30 m) of the bridge's rail and 41 ft (12 m) of the bridge's wall. Just outside Washington D.C., the Potomac River Gorge is a 14-mile stretch that extends from the Key Bridge in the District of Columbia north to the Great Falls of the Potomac. Native fish populations are great for recreational fishing, but contaminants in the Potomac’s waters make many fish unsafe for human consumption. Average striped bass abundance in the Potomac River between 2014-2018 measures 78 percent of the historic mean. At 4:01 pm EST, it crashed into the 14th Street Bridge across the Potomac River, 0.75 nmi (1,390 m) from the end of the runway. 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