LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)- UPDATE: The children have been brought to safety at Beaver Park Landing.
About 20 children, ages 3 to 7, became stranded when a tour boat got stuck on a sandbar, Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber said.
“What happened is we had some flash flooding issues and high winds. There was a boat on a tour out of Vermilionville, with about 20 kids and an adult operator. And they got pushed up on basically some shallow water, and they couldn’t get out of it because of the flash flooding, and the current, and the wind conditions,” said Sheriff Mark Garber, with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office.
When the 911 call came in, Garber dispatched his Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit…
“He was able to find them very quickly, and successfully transported the kids into the Sheriff’s Office boat, which had a more powerful motor, and was able to negotiate the current back to safety, delivered them back to Vermilionville Park, and the operator then with a lighter watercraft, was able to make it back as well,” said Garber.
C.E.O. of the Bayou Vermilion District David Cheramie said that the nearly 20 children were part of a French Immersion Camp, where they head out on boat tours as part of their camp activities.
“We usually go from here in Vermilionville, we come form the dock here, we go up the bayou, behind the airport, in a place called ‘Bayou Tonktu.’
We go around, that is where they were trying to get back from Tonktu, where they hit the currents and the winds that just pinned them up against the banks, and they tried to get out but the weather wouldn’t allow them too, so they called the Sheriff’s Office and they came to the rescue,” said Cheramie.
He says all the children were wearing life jackets and that camp leaders had checked the radar before leaving in the boat.
In fact, they even left earlier than planned, but the weather came in faster than they thought. Cheramie says they will be reviewing their policies for the boating trips as well in the coming days.
“Luckily nothing bad happened, the kids just have great stories to tell, and actually we’ve contacted all the kids parents so far and let them know that their kids are fine, so we’re just very happy. We’re very grateful that Sheriff Garber and his crew out there responded very quickly,” said Cheramie.
“I’m very proud of my Marine Unit. Very happy that we were able to effect this rescue very quickly.
It just goes to show you that you’ve got to be aware of the weather conditions, not only what you’re in right now, not only what you’re doing when youre doing it, but also what’s coming down the pipe,” said Garber.
ORIGINAL STORY: Several children are stuck on a vessel in the Vermilion River.
Rescuers with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office marine unit are attempting to tow them to safety, LPSO spokesman John Mowell said.
We will update this story as new information becomes available.
