(The Des Moines Register posted the following story by Adam Morris on its website on October 24.)
DES MOINES, Iowa — Cellular telephones were useless, ambulances were in short supply, and disoriented survivors clawed for safety in darkness because emergency lights didn’t work.
Those and other findings are contained in a federal report on the deadly 2001 derailment of an Amtrak train in a remote area of southwest Iowa.
A Colorado woman was killed and 96 others were injured when the California Zephyr derailed near Nodaway shortly before midnight on March 17.
Many of the 195 passengers were asleep when the train reached a defective stretch of rail and careered into a farm field. Investigators later found nearly 1,500 defects along the track that carries the Zephyr across the state.
The report, which does not place blame or carry regulatory consequences, said rescue crews adapted tornado disaster training to the crash scene and performed admirably in difficult circumstances.
They might also have been aided by a cold snap that made the ground solid and kept the wreckage stable, which likely prevented more casualties, stated the Federal Emergency Management Agency report made public Thursday.
“It was havoc because of the cold, and there were no lights whatsoever out there,” said Nodaway’s mayor, Bob Pafford.
“Rescuers had to use headlights from their cars and flashlights to get to people, and they used glow sticks to help see people in the cars,” Pafford said.
Pafford said he is proud of how quickly Nodaway residents responded to something for which they were otherwise unprepared to deal.
“I didn’t even have to put out a call. It’s like people came out of the woodwork to help,” Pafford said. “On this end, I honestly couldn’t say it could have been dealt with any better, because it worked like clockwork.”
The report “offers valuable insights that will help prevent deaths and property loss in the future,” said Michael Brown, a federal homeland security spokesman, who noted the first emergency crews on the scene in Nodaway “had no specific training related to derailments, but were able to respond appropriately to the situation.”
According to Federal Railroad Administration records, defects reported along the route included split rails, deteriorated ties and a variance in the width of the rails. Other defects reported between December 1995 and January 2001 included burned-out crossing lights and obscurement of warning signs by foliage.
The rail administration concluded that the number of defects on the 270-mile route, owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, was not excessive.
A defective rail near Nodaway had been replaced, but Amtrak officials later suggested the replacement rail also might have been flawed.
Pafford said rescuers have met with railroad officials three times to discuss changes that could aid rescuers in case of a similar incident. Those officials have taken note of the concerns, Pafford said.
Passenger Stella Riehl, 69, died.
Her son, Charlie Romstad of Des Moines, started the National Rail Safety Alliance to study safety issues. Romstad said he’s concerned that requiring seat belts on passenger trains and specialized training for crews that respond to rail accidents need more attention.
“So many of these issues have not been brought forward,” he said.