Around 1,500 people had been taking part in a fun event called the Port Huron Float Down, where participants float down the river on rafts and tubes.
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Numerous floating vessels lost air and the celebration ended in a vast Coast Guard rescue.
Under police escort, the US citizens were bused back to the south side of the border, local police said on their Twitter feed, repeatedly referring to the individuals as “floaters”. And with 1,500 people, the Sarnia police, the OPP, the Canadian Coast Guard, Canada Border Service Agency and employees from a nearby chemical company, Lanxess Canada had their hands full, reports CBC Canada. But the whole accidental invasion turned out well, and despite a few minor injuries, everyone was rescued and safely returned to the U.S. Once all the floaters were fished out of the water or simply gathered on shore, passersby willingly shed outer garments to keep the wet illegals warm. Instead, they ended up across the river in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.
“It was a nightmare, but everyone involved got through it”, Mr. Clarke said.
Coast guard spokeswoman Carol Launderville said the event has no official organizer and poses “significant and unusual hazards” due to the river’s fast-moving current and participants’ lack of life jackets. There were long waits and long lines.
Then, when the rafters were blown off course Sunday, some became afraid of what would happen when they entered Canada without official papers and they tried to swim back across the river, Garapick told NBC News.
In it, he said: “We’re being towed back to the United States from Canada and we had a little accident, but we’re gonna get in”. “They were very upset, cold and miserable”.
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The Port Huron Float Down group took to its Facebook page Sunday night, profusely expressing their gratitude to their northern neighbors. Tricia Frost, 26, told the Detroit Free Press she used a kiddie pool past year, couldn’t control it and wound up accidentally floating across the border.
