USCG File Photo
NEW ORLEANS — Rough conditions across Louisiana over the weekend kept crews from the Coast Guard busy over the weekend, as 24 people were assisted or rescued in 15 separate incidents.
Local Sheriff’s Offices within St. Tammany, Plaquemine, and St Bernard Parishes were essential in assisting Coast Guard Sector New Orleans respond to the multitude of disabled boaters within their waterways.
Sector New Orleans also worked in conjunction with Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries in two search and rescue cases in which five mariners were safely escorted to shore after they became stranded in the water.
Sector New Orleans received a report at 10:16 a.m. that five people were stranded on a small island after their 18-foot white and black vessel sank in the vicinity of Pipe Bay.
Watchstanders launched a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and located all five people on the island.
The aircrew hoisted three of the stranded boaters and transferred them to Air Station New Orleans, leaving the rescue swimmer on scene with the remaining two boaters.
The aircrew then returned and hoisted the two remaining boaters and the rescue swimmer and returned to Air Station New Orleans.
The survivors are reported to be in stable condition.
The Coast Guard recommends boaters check the forecasted weather conditions prior to departing shore. In many cases, weather conditions can quickly deteriorate and catch boaters unaware and underprepared.
