PORT CLINTON, Ohio (AP) — Coast Guard authorities say 18 people were rescued from an ice floe that broke away in Lake Erie over the weekend.

Officials said an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Detroit noticed a group of people on the floe near Catawba Island at about 1 p.m. Sunday with several all-terrain vehicles seeking a route back to land.

The helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer and began hoisting operations while an airboat got underway from the nearby Marblehead station, the Coast Guard said.

The helicopter lifted seven people from the floe and the airboat rescued four others, officials said. The other seven people were picked up and taken to shore by a good Samaritan who also had an airboat at the scene.

Emergency medical services were standing by, but no one required medical attention, the Coast Guard said.

Authorities earlier urged people to “stay off the ice on Lake Erie as there is the possibility that the ice will drift away from shore."

Last week, crews from the two Coast Guard stations were also called in to aid Catawba Island volunteer firefighters in rescuing seven people from another floe west of the peninsula jutting out into the Great Lake.

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This story has been corrected to correct dateline to Port Clinton rather than Catawba.

February 6, 2022

Contact: Lt. j.g. Jeremiah Schiessel

(313) 910-1234

Coast Guard rescues 18 from ice floe in Lake Erie

SANDUSKY, Ohio — A Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Detroit and an airboat from

Station Marblehead combined with a good Samaritan to help rescue 18 people from an ice floe

that separated from land near Catawba Island in Lake Erie Sunday.

Rescue efforts began about 1 p.m. after an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Detroit

noticed approximately 20 people on an ice floe, with several ATVs looking for a route back to

land. The helicopter lowered its rescue swimmer and began hoisting operations while Station

Marblehead’s airboat got underway. The helicopter hoisted seven people from the floe, four

others were rescued by the Coast Guard airboat, and the remaining seven were rescued and

transported to shore by a Good Samaritan who also had an airboat on scene. Emergency medical

services were standing by, but no one required medical attention.

The Coast Guard urges all who seek recreational opportunities on the ice to take precautions, not

chances. Remember to dress appropriately for the water temperature, not the air temperature; to

wear a life jacket and carry a reliable form of communication; and to carry icepicks or

screwdrivers that can help them self-rescue if they go through the ice.

“There’s no such thing as safe ice, but people can mitigate their risks,” said Lt. j.g. Jeremiah

Schiessel, from Coast Guard Sector Detroit. “Always be sure to tell someone where you’re going

and when you expect to be back. Great Lakes ice is unpredictable, and conditions can change

fast.”

USCG

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