Officials emphasize hidden dangers of river

AWHILE FIREFIGHTERS AND COPS HOPE THE RECOVERY OF A 13- YEAR-OLD BOY S BODY FROM THE RIO GRANDE WILL TEACH NEW MEXICANS A NEW RESPECT FOR THE RIVER AND THEY SAY IT MAY BE TIME FOR THEM TO FOCUS MORE ON WARNING PEOPLE ABOUT THE POTENTIAL DANGERS IN THE RIO GRANDE STUART DYSON IS LIVE AT THE ALAMEDA BRIDGE WITH OUR TOP STORY THIS IS CLOSE TO WHERE THE RESCUE TEAM RECOVERED CORBIN HAYES BODY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON - A REMINDER THAT EVEN A SHALLOW RIVER IN THE DESERT HAS A DEADLY STRENGTH THE FIVE DAY SEARCH FOR CORBIN HAYES GOT STATEWIDE ATTENTION - THE USUALLY SHALLOW AND SLUGGISH RIO GRANDE RUNNING HIGH AND HARD WITH SPRINGTIME RUNOFF - STAGGERING EVEN VETERAN RESCUE DIVERS AS THEY PREPARED TO RECOVER THE BODY - CORBIN HAYES DARED TO SWIM THE RIVER LAST THURSDAY AND IT COST HIM HIS LIFE - THE WATER MOVING AT FOUR THOUSAND CUBIC FEET PER SECOND - CONCEALING TANGLED HORRORS JUST BELOW THE SURFACE - LET THE PEOPLE WHO DO THE RESCUING AND RECOVERING TELL IT You have the mud and the silt but you also have holes - there are places where it can go as deep as - right now - as deep as 20 feet - and there s also downed trees - downed roots There are tree roots - trees that fall in and all kinds of things that can catch you and hold you and won t let you get through - the water gets through but you don t and that s why they re called strainers When you become entangled into a stationary force in the river what happens is it forces you into it and you don t have the power to disentangle yourself RESCUERS SAY ANYBODY WHO S NOT AN EXPERIENCED SWIMMER SHOULD STAY OUT OF THE WATER DURING PEAK RUNOFF - OR WEAR A LIFE JACKET - REMEMBER CORBIN HAYES WAS A GOOD SWIMMER FIREFIGHTERS SAY THEY VE DONE A GOOD JOB OVER THE LAST THIRTY YEARS RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF FLOOD CONTROL ARROYOS AND IRRIGATION DITCHES - NOW IT S TIME TO TURN ATTENTION TO THE BIG RIVER ITSELF AT THE ALAMEDA BRIDGE STUART DYSON