Parks need better safety standards
As the Chamblee High School community mourns the loss our beloved classmate, Adil Chowdury, 18, who drowned last Wednesday in the Chattahoochee River, it is important to note that this is the third recent drowning near Sandy Point. As reported by the AJC, A.J. Houston — a former Gwinnett football player — drowned on April 25, and Aaron Asher Daniels — a Gwinnett teen — drowned on May 7.
Water releases during weekday afternoons from Buford Dam, located a few miles upstream from Sandy Point, produce powerful and unexpected current surges underneath the seemingly placid surface of the river. This can result in up to 11-foot rises in water level and temperatures as cold as 47 degrees Fahrenheit – which can cause hypothermia and hinder attempts to swim to the shoreline.
I hope that Georgia government officials and Chattahoochee National Recreation Center park rangers will commit to increasing safety standards — perhaps by enacting mandatory life-jacket regulation, opening shops that sell affordable life-jackets near popular swimming holes, increasing the number of warning signposts downstream, or prohibiting swimming in areas that are often affected by hydroelectric dam surges – like Sandy Point.
SARAYU NARAYAN, TUCKER
Lee lost writer’s vote back in 2012
I’m sure all the reasons Tim Lee conjures up for why he’s in a runoff election for Cobb County Commission Chairman are legitimate. But perhaps Mr. Lee is also suppressing memories of 2012. That is the year he called voters who didn’t support light rail for Cobb “spoiled brats.” And that is the year this voter decided that someone so contemptuous of his constituents doesn’t deserve my vote.
JEAN HESS, MARIETTA
