Write a 1500 word paper answering; The day took a tragic turn when Jodie Sullivan, the OPC instructor accompanying the party made the decision to that saw the group enter the Mangatepopo gorge and leave the rock ledge above the stream resulting in what came to be known as the Mangatepopo Stream / Elim School Tragedy of 2008. The decision was influenced by the fact that she did not receive an updated weather report, which could have influenced her to make a different choice. With some members of the group roped in pairs, she instructed them to enter the gorge at intervals of five minutes (Hersey, 2009).

This was a controversial decision from a qualified outdoor instructor as the volume of water in the stream at the time can only be described as a maelstrom of water. Flash floods in the park had resulted in the stream’s volume increasing rapidly. Inside the gorge, they were sitting ducks to the flash floods. The floods claimed the lives 12 of six-year students and a teacher. The instructor and three other students were the only members of the party to enter the gorge and survive the floods. Two of the victims were about to celebrate their seventeenth birthday before the tragic event cut their lives short (More, 2006). The fact that there was a multiple loss of lives of young people with great potential in a scenario that could have been avoided, makes that event a great disaster.

An independent review of the disaster revealed that it was not first in the same area. The gorge had a history of near-death encounters as well as several incidents of accidental deaths (Stuff, 2014). With such a record, one should expect that the OPC staff would always be prepared for the worst, which was not the case. A report by Grant Davidson, the organization’s CEO at the time faulted the staff for inadequately analyzing hazards and for not having up to date weather reports. The fact that the firm did not adopt his own safety recommendations during Davidson’s tenure casts doubts on his own ability to ensure the safety of clients