Two boaters missing after treacherous water conditions on Grand River in Kitchener
Posted Jul 15, 2024 05:44:54 AM.
Last Updated Aug 2, 2024 12:59:21 PM.
The search for two missing boaters continued on Monday after police said the pair disappeared Saturday night while boating on the Grand River in Kitchener.
Water conditions at the time were said to be treacherous, and the two were seen “in distress.”
The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), Kitchener Fire Department and local paramedics were called Saturday around 9:30 p.m. to the Grand River Bridge and Highway 8 area, and were unable to find the two.
Multiple other services are helping with the search, including Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Waterloo Regional REACT, Cambridge Fire Department, Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), and the Region of Waterloo.
Around 10 a.m. Monday, the police Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) was also sent out in the Hidden Valley Road area.
Heavy rain affected search efforts late Monday morning, which had to be temporarily suspended shortly after 11:30 a.m. because of the stormy weather.
Police said the weather conditions had been posing a significant challenge, and they urged the public to avoid coming to the scene to aid search efforts because of the safety risks.
The search resumed early Monday evening and the OPP dive team continued to look for any signs of the two boaters, who were identified as adult women.
Police would not comment on what kinds of boat, or boats, were involved — only describing it as a “personal device” and that nothing had been recovered yet.
Record amount of rain fell on Waterloo Region last week, as the remnants of Hurricane Beryl poured 55.3 mm on the area.
Lisa Stocco, a spokesperson from the GRCA, tells CityNews 570, water flows were elevated on Saturday due to that heavy rain.
“The higher flows were well below flooding thresholds…the WRPS requested the GRCA’s assistance in their search to provide them with general support and information related to our areas of expertise,” she said.
Those higher water levels can be seen in the chart below, provided on the GRCA website.
Two kayakers, Don and Patrick, said they have been boating on the Grand River at least four times a week for the last 20 years. Patrick said the news of the missing boaters is “tragic” and warns that they do not go out when there are elevated water levels and when they do go out they go together.
“It’s unusual that something like this would happen at this time of year,” said Patrick. “You always have to be careful and its very sad when something like this happens.”
