Coast Guard medevacs 2 from grounded boat near Bolivar Penisula

A Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew assist two boaters out of the helicopter after they were rescued when their boat was grounded for over 16 hours. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

A Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew assist two boaters out of the helicopter after they were rescued when their boat was grounded for over 16 hours. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

HOUSTON — A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced a man and woman showing symptoms of heat exposure, after their 30-foot boat ran aground near Rollover Bay Monday morning.

At about 11 a.m., a friend of one of the boaters notified Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders that they were overdue. The watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Coast Guard Station Galveston boat crew to search for the person reported overdue.

The Station Galveston boat crew found the boat aground and two people standing in ankle-deep water at about 1 p.m., but couldn’t get close due to the shallow water. They verified it was who they were looking for and waited for a commercial towing company to pull them out.

Weather hindered the commercial tow from getting there promptly and an aircrew was sent to provide the boaters with a radio for communication at around 6 p.m. Once on scene, they noticed the boaters were showing symptoms of severe exposure to the sun and dehydration.

The two boaters were medevaced to Air Station Houston, where the Houston Fire Department EMS was standing by.


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