Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


It was a scary night out on the water Tuesday for area boaters and kayakers.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said the stormy night threatened disaster but thankfully didn’t deliver.

For members of the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, the Office said the evening had every indication it was going to be a long and challenging night filled with the potential for devastating news. So far this year, there have been 11 drownings in Oakland County lakes. In 2023, there were three drownings the entire year and four in 2022.

Tuesday’s fast-moving severe storm hit Oakland County shortly before 5:30pm - carrying with it high winds, lightning and heavy rain, and apparently catching many boaters by surprise.

Numerous calls for help came in quickly into the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Center.

Calls involved capsized vessels, victims stranded in water, boating accidents, near drownings, and a missing kayaker.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said six emergency calls within 90 minutes on four different lakes and all requiring an immediate response, was unprecedented. He said “The night had a violent storm that had the potential of inflicting serious injuries or death in addition to property damage. From our call takers to the first responders, our team handled seamlessly the massive number of calls for service in amazing fashion.”

The Office said with the help of the Southeast Michigan Dive Group, strike teams from the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Office, Livingston County Dive Team, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, each reported incident was handled. Four rescue boats were deployed as were multiple divers and SONAR equipment was used. The Office said the outcomes could not have been better for the rescuers.

Call details are available in the attached release.

Photo: wikipedia