An Ohio fire department rescued more than 50 people in just three hours — including children and six dogs who were thrown out of their rafts and kayaks on the Cuyahoga River during unexpectedly rough currents Sunday afternoon.
The massive rescue effort came a day after a father and his 5-year-old son drowned after being knocked out of their tube by the river’s rushing waters.
The City of Kent Fire Department originally responded to a report that 11 people, including six children, had fallen out of their rafts and were struggling to climb out of the river on Sunday.
When first responders arrived, a staggering 23 people and six dogs, many without lifejackets, needed help in the dangerous waters, the department wrote on Facebook.
The rescue count kept shooting up from there as the current dragged more frantic groups astray — with a total of more than 50 people saved.
“Several [groups] were coming down the river on kayaks and rafts and observed losing control or falling out of their rafts and kayaks due to the current of the river,” the department wrote in a press release.
The rescue took more than three hours and required help from more than four neighboring fire departments and a water rescue team, fire officials said.
The morning before the dramatic 50-person rescue, the department shared a warning about the river’s elevated water levels and rougher rapids following severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that battered northeast Ohio and Cuyahoga County last Thursday and Friday — knocking out power for thousands and toppling entire homes.
Still, the department’s caution didn’t reach everyone.
On Saturday evening, a father and son cruising on an inner tube down the river disappeared after the unruly current threw them overboard.
The son, a 5-year-old boy, was found dead Sunday, while his dad remains missing. Local officials expect they’ll have to wait for water levels to dip before they can find the father.
“We ask that you stay on dry land and simply observe the beauty of the river during these rough conditions rather than risk danger to yourself and others,” the department advised after the disastrous weekend.
It is unclear how many people or dogs, if any, were injured during Monday’s rescue. The Post reached out to the Kent Fire Department for clarity.
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