Tanya Hehir, 46, was one of three women who went exploring the so-called "love tunnel" in Gympie. Police said the women, including another 40-year-old who also died, had been washed back through the drain into Mary River.

The body of 46-year-old Tanya Hehir was found near the Gympie weir yesterday afternoon after she and two others went exploring the town’s main stormwater drain on Boxing Day.

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Authorities say a storm cell began dumping heavy rain over the region at about the time the trio entered the stormwater drain.

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It’s storm season, and they went in as it started raining?? :-\

  • WaterWaiverEnglish
    2·
    11 months ago

    Absolutely awful :(

    It’s storm season, and they went in as it started raining?? :-\

    Image from the article:

    The visual language is all wrong if you want this to appear dangerous.

    • Nice paintings. “This is a place where lots of people are”
    • No sharp edges. Curved and friendly just like other normal walking infrastructure.
    • No warnings (maybe there are some outside of frame?)
    • The water is neatly contained in a small channel. That means it’s managed. The hazard is managed.

    After entering a tunnel like this during the start of a storm your psychology might be the exact opposite of what you expect. Stressed by the storm/water? You might want to forge ahead faster towards your goal rather than turn around (and return to the outside where the “source” storm is).

    The need to bend over whilst walking inside (“its not human scale!”) might seem like it could tip you off that something is amiss, but in reality the presence of paintings might cancel this out. If kids play here and paint stuff then it must be safe, primates keep their kids in safe locations.

    I’m also a bit worried about the earth embankment on top, but that’s probably unimportant given what’s actually happened.