Coast Guard: Fishermen trapped on Lake Erie ice

[Botany]

Source: AP

Coast Guard: Fishermen trapped on Lake Erie ice
17 minutes ago
CLEVELAND (AP) — Several hundred people were trapped on a slab of ice about 8 miles wide that had broken free and floated away from the Ohio shoreline of Lake Erie, the Coast Guard said Saturday.
Coast Guard Petty Officer George Degener said several ships and helicopters from Toledo and Marblehead were sent to rescue the people from the ice floe.
Degener says there were no reports of anybody injured or in the water.
He said the Coast Guard was notified late Saturday morning, and about 35 people had been rescued by 1:30 p.m.
Ice on western sections of Lake Erie is up to 2 feet thick, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Randel said. He said it started to crack as temperatures rose above freezing this weekend and wind gusting to 35 mph pushed on the ice.
Ice fisherman who regularly visit the lake have said this winter's thick ice has lured more people to the lake this year.
Ohio Division of Wildlife spokeswoman Jamey Graham said the state annually warns fishermen that there's no such thing as "safe ice."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jko0cKBnJZTMYyoqnG6PlSGfIClgD966TIF80

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Just saw this on MSNBC @ least 100 + are trapped

Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard, Sheriff's Dept. and O.D.N.R.

all working to save the people .... reports say that a strong wind and
warmer temps caused the ice flow to break loose ...... some fisherman
say they had to cross over wooden planks to get on the ice this AM.

Come on "good guys" and save those people.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. This is not "Late Breaking News" to the Coast Guard

This is what the Coast Guard calls "late winter". These are not the first ice fishermen to go floating away.

The Coast Guard will undoubtedly rescue these folks. The vehicles, if any, are a different story. They may end up at the bottom of Lake Erie, seeping various petroleum products into the water for a long time.

Note to self: Don't go ice fishing when it's 40 degrees out.

:hi:

Edit to add: Oh, yeah, there could be some pets out there, too. People take their dogs on the ice. I hope they didn't take any today. They would not be a Coast Guard priority.

[Botany]

2. The snowmobiles and ATVs are gonna go into the drink.

A different report is that part of the ice might still be in contact with the land
or different ice.

Note to self ...... do not cross wooden planks over open water
to get on the ice.

[liberal N proud]

6. Yeah, but it is making a great diversion for CNN

[Kali]

3. 8 miles wide?

wow, that's a lot O frozen water to this desert rat!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. It's a lot O lake!

[bigworld]

5. why should the government rescue these people?

That's like... SOCIALISM!!!!

sarcasm, of course.

[ima_sinnic]

7. really! what is this, a nanny society? (nt)

[Judi Lynn]

8. Update: "Sheriff: 1 dead, 100 to 125 rescued from ice floe that broke from Ohio's Lake Erie shorelin

Updated: 2 minutes ago
Sheriff: 1 dead, 100 to 125 rescued from ice floe that broke from Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline

By JOHN SEEWER | Associated Press Writer
3:25 PM CST, February 7, 2009

OAK HARBOR, Ohio (AP) — One person who was among those stuck Saturday on a miles-wide slab of ice that floated away from the Ohio shoreline of Lake Erie has died, while more than 100 others were rescued, authorities said.

The victim fell into the water while searching with others for a link to the shoreline, Ottawa County sheriff Bob Bratton said. Others tried CPR before the person was flown to a hospital and pronounced dead, Bratton said.

Several ships and helicopters from Toledo and Marblehead, and from Detroit, were sent to rescue the people from the 8-mile-wide ice floe. He said 100 to 125 were rescued by late afternoon.

Authorities said fishermen apparently used wooden pallets to create a bridge over a crack in the ice so they could go farther out on the lake Saturday morning. But the planks fell into the water when the ice shifted, stranding the fishermen about 1,000 yards off shore.

More:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-ice-floe-fishermen,0,1964299.story

[petronius]

9. I've never ice-fished, but isn't it a really bad idea to cross a crack in the

ice without a clear plan for getting back? How did they think the crack got there in the first place?

I hope everyone is rescued safely (and no one else dies), but after that I hope the CG starts assessing charges for this unnecessary rescue...

[safeinOhio]

10. There is, almost always, a pressure crack near shore

The wind pushes the ice in and cause the crack. There was a south wind blowing, pushing the ice away from shore. The ice is 18 inches thick and one day of 50 degrees doesn't do much. It had been way below freezing for quite a while. Yesterday, I was out, not far from there and it almost got up to 32. It was the wind, not the warmth that caused the problem.

[petronius]

11. So this wasn't really a negligence thing? I would assume that, if the ice

is typically disconnected from the shore to some degree, checking the wind forecast would be part of the planning stage (as would leaving the ice if the wind shifted). Was this unusual, in that the wind came up too fast for people to get off in a timely fashion?

[safeinOhio]

12. What happens is

People see others out there and think it must be ok. You don't see anything but eight miles of ice and there is no concept of it splitting off when you can't see open water. I had the same thing happen out on Brest Bay. If you follow the crack you can get back to shore because it didn't break off, it just split but never broke off. Those that got off, and there were a bunch, didn't need the Coast Guard. Still with the stiff south wind, that was a terrible place to fish. If they had gone around the bay, out toward the islands they'd had no problem. I was out there yesterday and there is no place for the ice to move because of the islands to the north. It's true shit happens.