Great Lakes Drownings 2021

Great Lakes Drowning

According to statistics given by the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project, 83 persons perished in the Great Lakes drownings 2021. 38 of them were in Lake Michigan. This follows 2020, when 56 people drowned in Lake Michigan, setting a new high. Last year in 2020, there was a total of 108 Great Lakes drownings reported in 2021.

Great Lakes Drownings 2021

It’s worth noting that just six drownings in Lake Michigan this year happened on red flag days or during severe weather conditions; two of the deaths occurred in Michigan (the others were in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin). The remaining 29 deaths occurred due to various mishaps, including being washed off or leaping from piers, inexperienced/young swimmers, swimmers swimming alone, boating accidents, and other miscellaneous incidents, such as becoming entangled under a flotation device.

In Michigans Upper Thumb on July 6, 2021, Jeffrey S. Hineman Man drowned July 6 2021 while swimming in Lake Huron – He informed his wife and pals that he was going to take a dip in the lake at Harbor Beach in chest-deep water. A little while later, they discovered him floating and unresponsive in the water. Bystanders pulled Hineman from the water and tried CPR on him, but he died at the site.

Falling through the ice while fishing is also a significant danger. In the winter of 2018, there were two deaths and one rescue on the Saginaw Bay ice in the Upper Thumb in early February. In 2019 there is one incident of a fisherman falling through near Sherman and Elevator. We found an article that describes the steps to survive falling through ice even if you can’t get yourself out of the water. It’s a fight for survival and one only has minutes before hypothermia, unconsciousness, and death

High Water Levels Bring New Danger

High water levels in the Great Lakes have created many changes. Especially on Lake Huron. Of the 2021 drownings, 38 occurred in Lake Michigan, compared to 56 a year ago. 11 drownings were reported in Lake Huron this season, in addition to 19 in Lake Erie and 11 in Lake Ontario, and 4 drownings reported in Lake Superior. More drownings have been reported in the Great Lakes so far in 2021 than by this time last year, prompting officials to urge swimmers to practice safe swimming

Video: Great Lakes Drownings 2021: Lake Michigan drownings up 80% since last year

Source: Number of Drownings in Great Lakes Jumps in 2021, Nonprofit Says

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Mikki Smith

Mikki is a graduate of Indian River State College and currently living and working in Isreal as a developer of AI chatbots for the travel industry. She writes part-time and is working on her first book about chatbot development.

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