MEC&F Expert Engineers : 3 CHILDREN, 1 ADULT DEAD, 3 HOSPITALIZED IN BEAR LAKE STATE PARK, AFTER IND STORMS HIT THE LAKE IN UTAH/IDAHO AND CAUSED THE BOAT TO OVERTURN

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

3 CHILDREN, 1 ADULT DEAD, 3 HOSPITALIZED IN BEAR LAKE STATE PARK, AFTER IND STORMS HIT THE LAKE IN UTAH/IDAHO AND CAUSED THE BOAT TO OVERTURN
















JUNE 2, 2015

BEAR LAKE STATE PARK, IDAHO/UTAH BORDER (KUTV)

A boating outing on Bear Lake Monday turned deadly for at least four people, authorities confirm.
All seven on the boat, from Weber County, were pulled from the waters, and four—including three juveniles— were confirmed dead by the Rich County Sheriff’s Office.

Those on the boat included an adult male, an adult female, several teen girls and a 7-year-old girl.

Two juveniles and one adult female were transported by ambulance to Logan Regional Hospital. Three juveniles were flown to Primary Children's Hospital where they later died. An adult male was pronounced dead at the scene.
The ski boat capsized with seven people on board, 2News reported late Monday, and several police agencies and rescuers spent the night searching an area between Bear Lake State Park in Utah and the Idaho side of the lake, where another park is located.

Authorities said there was a "very violent" wind storm in the Bear Lake area when the boat overturned.

Officials say the group was in the frigid 53 degree lake for anywhere between three and five hours.
Stay with 2News and kutv.com for updates on this story.

Why would anyone go boating when there are storms in the area, especially with the history of the wind storms in the area?

//////////////--------------

UPDATED Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 8:30 a.m. (KUTV) Multiple police agencies attempted a rescue of seven people from the waters of Bear Lake Monday night.
All seven people were found and removed from the water. Four are confirmed dead by the Rich County Sheriff's Office, including 3 juveniles while three others remain hospitalized.


Police said three of the people taken from the lake were transported by air to hospitals and three others were taken to hospitals by ground ambulance.

"We got called on an overdue boat with seven people in it," said Rich County Sheriff Dale Stacey. "Eventually the boat was found turned over. Had a bad wind storm and all seven people obviously were dumped out of the boat."

Police said some of the group were family members. The group included an adult male, an adult female, several teen girls and a 7-year-old girl.

Stacey said the condition of the survivors was serious or critical.

"They weren't in great shape."

He said he believed the group was in the lake for about three hours and they did have floatation devices.

The search area was between the Bear Lake State Park in Utah and the Idaho side of the lake where another park is located. Several police agencies were involved in rescue efforts. Three helicopters played a part in the search and the transport of the victims.

"When the wind gets blowing hard, that lake gets really rough and it's not a good place to be," Stacey said.

Officials said the boat has not been recovered and further investigations will take place Tuesday in the daylight. Stacey said it was ski boat.

Witnesses saw two of those taken from the water able to move under their own power while getting medical attention. It is not clear who in the group survived and who died.

Stay with 2News and kutv.com for updates on this story.


///////////---------------

BEAR LAKE STATE PARK

A boat rescue was underway Monday night on Bear Lake as high winds pounded the area. 

Search and rescue crews were looking for seven missing boaters late Monday night, Utah State Parks Lt. Eric Stucki told KSL. Crews from Rich County were joining forces with rescue workers from Utah State Parks in the effort, he said. 

A Bear Lake County, Idaho, official said some boaters had been located and were being pulled out of the lake. 

The boat was not located as of about 9 p.m. Monday, according to Stucki.
The conditions of the missing boaters, including those who were located, were not immediately known. Photos from the scene showed two ambulances being loaded. 

The boaters were reportedly affected by high winds in the area. One person took video of a floating dock being pushed out toward the middle of the lake due to wind. 

Meanwhile Monday evening, two adults were treated by medical personnel after wind capsized their boat on Utah Lake. 

A call was made at 7:55 p.m. reporting a capsized sailboat a half-mile from Provo Boat Harbor, said Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon. 

The adults were found clinging to the boat and were out of the water 20-25 minutes after the call and were uninjured, he said. 

In Box Elder County, high winds wreaked havoc on the tiny town of Portage, residents reported. Trees throughout Portage were pulled out, barns were destroyed and the roofs of some homes torn off, according to readers' reports.
One person was hospitalized and the shingles of 10 homes were blown off because of the conditions, according to an online report from the National Weather Service. 

In Preston, Idaho, a person took photos at one of the city's golf courses, where at least four large trees were ripped from the ground in severe weather.