$8K cost of rescuing 'over-refreshed' floating Americans frustrates Sarnia mayor
Rescue effort that used 10 city buses and a police escort back to Michigan has cost city $8,181
By Derek Spalding, CBC News Posted: Aug 23, 2016 1:12 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 24, 2016 3:56 PM ET
Thousands of people gathered for the Port Huron Float Down and floated down the St. Clair River on Sunday, but hundreds ended up in Canada by accident.
Thousands of people gathered for the Port Huron Float Down and floated down the St. Clair River on Sunday, but hundreds ended up in Canada by accident. (Mark R. Rummel/The Times Herald/The Associated Press)
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'Americans everywhere' as wind blows 1,500 U.S. partiers to Canada
Sarnia, Ont., Mayor Mike Bradley is frustrated with the cost of Sunday's massive St. Clair River rescue, when high winds forced 1,500 American partiers and their trash onto the shores of his southwestern Ontario city.
City staff say they spent $8,181 mobilizing an exhaustive rescue to pull people from the water, elevate their body temperatures and transport them back across the border.
1,500 U.S. partiers wash up in Canada
Unexpected wind pushed the Americans off course during the planned — but unsanctioned — Port Huron Float Down, an annual event that requires rescue assistance almost every year, authorities say.
Every third Sunday in August, the daredevils float down the river on rafts and inner tubes, starting in Port Huron, Mich., across the river from Sarnia.
"I'm hoping that some common sense will spring out of this," Bradley said. "We could have had a major tragedy on our hands if the weather had been a bit more violent or the day had been a bit more wild on the river."
'Don't land in Canada'
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/float-down-sarnia-cost-1.3732294
