CASEVILLE TWP., Mich. (WWJ) - A 65-year-old man from Metro Detroit has died after getting caught up in a strong rip current in Saginaw Bay on Thursday, officials said.
The Huron County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that the drowning occurred after two 65-year-old men from Commerce Township were out in rough waters of Lake Huron in the 11 a.m. hour and a wave knocked them down.
According to officials, the men were standing on a sandbar in Saginaw Bay, near Caseville Township, when the wave hit. One man was able to make it back to shore, but the other got caught up in a rip current and was dragged further out in the lake.
His friends told deputies that the man, later identified as Kerry Atwell, disappeared and was found apporximently 20 minutes later. He was located about 400 ft. west from where he was last seen.
Friends had begun resuscitation efforts on Atwell when deputies arrived on scene. The sheriff's office said it only took officials a few minutes to reach the area after the initial 911 call was placed.
Atwell was rushed by ambulance to Scheurer Hospital.
Deputies say resuscitation ceased at 12:36 p.m. and Atwell was pronounced dead.
An autopsy is scheduled with the Huron County Medical Examiner's Office this upcoming Monday.
According to the National Weather Service, a Hazardous Beach Outlook was issued for all beaches from Sand Point north to Port Austin and all the way along the Lake Huron shoreline to Port Huron, including waters around Caseville Twp. where the drowning occurred.
Forecasters said strong currents into or along the shoreline created dangerous swimming conditions on Thursday.
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"Beach goers are advised to always beware of rip currents when the water is rough, especially when northerly wind’s are in place," the sheriff's office said.
According to NWS, winds were forecasted at 10 to 20 MPH with gusts around 25 coming from the north. Waves were also reported to crest at 2 to 5 ft. with some getting as large a 7 ft.
This is the latest of several drownings reported in the Great Lakes in the last week over hazardous swimming conditions.
In Lake Michigan, three people drown in dangerous waters in a span of 48 hours.
WWJ's Jon Hewett spoke with David Benjamin, founder and executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, who's been tracking waterway deaths in Michigan for over a decade.
"On the average now, we're seeing about a hundred Great Lakes drownings per year, and then on average almost half of all Great Lakes drownings happen in Lake Michigan," Benjamin said.
He believes most are preventable.
"That's why we need public rescue equipment on beaches, and also why we need beach hazard signage strategically placed near the hazards, " Benjamin said. "Placing them where the rip current channels are, placing then on the piers where there's structural current channels."
"You know, these are all things that are not expensive and doable," he added. "The most expensive part would be, yes, having lifeguards, but lifeguards are going to be saving lives."
So far this summer, Benjamin said there have been 73 drownings on Great Lakes waterways, along with ten more people currently hospitalized, or listed as missing following swimming related incidents.
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