St. Clair River: Wind Blows About 1,500 Americans to Canada During Floating Event on River, Officials Say
Authorities said that they rescued and sent some people home after about 1,500 people from the U.S. were blown across the border to Canada while floating down the St. Clair River Sunday.
In the Canadian Coast Guard video posted on a report from the CBC, you can hear thankful Americans praising Canada for its rescue efforts.
“God bless Canada!” shouts one floater.
“Thank you, Canada!” yells another.
“There were people in places you’d never think something would float, but there were Americans everywhere,” Peter Garapick of the Canadian Coast Guard said. “There was no chance for anything floating or people on inner tubes to go anywhere but Canada.”
Winds were consistently blowing at 10-15 knots and gusting up to 27 knots. That’s sustained winds of about 20 km/h and gusts of 50 km/h.
“The people who take part in this are not mariners,” Garapick said. “They don’t look at the wind, the weather and the waves. We knew from the get-go, the winds were going to cause a problem. There’s no question they were involuntarily coming to Canada.”
Sarnia city workers spent several hours Monday picking up beer cans, coolers, rafts — even picnic tables — that washed up on the Canadian shore, said spokeswoman Katarina Ovens.
“I guess they were on the rafts,” she said of the picnic tables.
Police say it took hours for a bus service to transport the U.S. citizens back to Michigan.
