Torrential rains hamper water rescue on Bow River
Posted Aug 22, 2019 10:02 pm.
Last Updated Aug 23, 2019 6:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Calgary Fire advises you to check the weather forecast before heading out on the river.
The reminder comes after five people became stuck on the river and then heavy rains moved in.
It was around 8 p.m. on Thursday when Calgary Fire received a call for help.
Two adults and three kids on a raft became stuck in a shallow sandbar.
Then the weather quickly turned dangerous with torrential rains hampering rescue efforts.
“It was hard for me to shoot let alone to traverse through, let alone try to go through a river,” said CityNews cameraman Derek Brade. “Most of these people were very in distress. Not something that you want to be in when you are just trying to go for a regular river float on the Bow River.”
The group escaped without injury but were left badly shaken.
“As I’m coming up to the banks of the Bow River, I saw a bunch of first responders coming to the distress of a group that was floating down the Bow River,” he described. They were “not quite on the bank of the river, and then they were stranded.”
Calgary Fire took the family to the fire hall to warm up with some hot chocolate.
