Campers swept away by river are rescued

ST. MARYS - Two people were rescued from the St. Marys River early Sunday morning after flood waters had swept away the tent in which they were sleeping, authorities reported.

The pair was lucky to have been found by responders who carried out a search and rescue mission under difficult circumstances, Auglaize County Emergency Management Agency Director Troy Anderson told the newspaper. Approximately 30 emergency responders from multiple agencies arrived to assist, he said.

A family consisting of a mother, father and adult son were camping near the St. Marys River on Saturday, St. Marys Fire Chief Doug Ayers said. The mother and father were sleeping when flood waters sent the tent into the river, not long after midnight, he said. The adult son was not in the tent at the time and was later found at the High Street shelter house in St. Marys, according to Ayers.

Had the woman not had a working cellphone to call 911, authorities would have never known of their plight, both Ayers and Anderson pointed out.

The couple reportedly stayed afloat on an air mattress in fast-moving water, authorities said. The mother used her cellphone to call 911 for help, Ayers said.

St. Marys firefighters and police officers raced to the scene and launched a Zodiac rescue boat into the river.

Working in pitch black darkness in the dead of night, responders sought out the couple by following the woman's description of her surroundings via cellphone.

"The boat couldn't go quickly on the river because of debris," Ayers said.
  Responders searched for between an hour and an hour-and-a-half before they spotted and pulled the couple out of river in a spot between Markley and Glynwood roads, a few miles north of St. Marys. An ambulance was waiting nearby to take them to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys.

"They floated that far," Anderson said. "Thy were in the water quite awhile."

Ayers said the woman was on the air mattress while the father was in the water holding onto it when they were rescued from waters that were six feet higher than normal and between 65-70 degrees. The two exhibited signs that hypothermia was setting in, he added.

Ayers on Sunday evening said he believed that the mother had been released from the hospital but the father remained for observations. He did not release their names at this time but said they were from the area.

Also helping with the search and rescue mission were Auglaize County EMA, St. Marys Township Fire Department and a St. Marys Police Department drone pilot.

Both Ayers and Anderson said an emergency rescue and search plan was coordinated and executed by responders. They applauded the efforts of the men and women who rushed to the aid of the imperiled couple.

"We had multiple agencies. We were operating under unified command," Ayers said. "Everybody worked together really well. They understood what their job was and the end results speak for themselves."

Officials were indeed well prepared for the task at hand as this was the third time in less than two months that search and rescue missions were carried out on the St. Marys River.

On April 20, two St. Marys men were rescued from the St. Marys River after their kayaks capsized and plunged them into 47-degree water.

Then on April 27, St. Marys firefighters rescued two of three men from the St. Marys River after the trio, ages 22, 26 and 33, went canoeing on the rain-swollen river and their watercraft capsized. At the scene responders had found one individual already on land after he managed to exit the fast-moving river. A second man was clinging to a downed tree and the third was clinging to a pole in the river, according to a news release.