EUREKA, Mo. (AP) — The arrival of hot weather and the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic means bigger crowds at Missouri waterways, but too often this year the trend has taken a deadly turn.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that at least 10 people have drowned so far this month in Missouri, and six others died in boating accidents. None of the 16 victims wore a life jacket.
Across Missouri, at least 39 people have either drowned or died in boating accidents so far in 2021, including at least seven children.
Public safety officials gathered Monday in the St. Louis suburb of Eureka for a news conference urging caution on the water. It followed three drownings in the St. Louis area last week alone. They included one on the Meramec River, one on the Big River and one at Creve Coeur Lake.
St. Louis County’s parks, once quiet, are now frequent destinations for people looking to cool off, Park Ranger Sgt. Cheryl Fechter said. She noted that because some pools are closed this year due in part to a shortage of workers, many people are instead swimming in rivers.
For those who choose to swim in rivers despite the risk, interim Fenton fire Chief Ramona Kaminski recommends life jackets, even for adults who consider themselves strong swimmers.
IN NORTH Carolina, a tubing party ended in tragedy lat week when members caught caught in the currents of a dam and drowned on the Dan River.
Nine people, all related, had entered the river Wednesday on innertubes at the Draper Landing, near Eden, N.C.
Four were rescued Thursday, and four havebeen confirmed dead. One body remains missing.
The family set out sometime on Wednesday on tubes down the Dan River and went over an 8-foot dam near the Duke Energy Steam Station. The water below the dam, where the current is strongest, is about 3 feet deep, according to Jeff Brooks, a spokesman for Duke Energy.
Dan Riverkeeper Steven Pulliam of Stoneville said that the dam’s drop-off causes a strong current at its base. “It would be almost impossible for a tube/raft to go over it without flipping,’’ Pulliam said last week.
