Two teenagers are safe after being rescued from Lake Michigan off the South Haven pier on Thursday.
The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department tells us marine deputies were dispatched to South Beach around 3:30 p.m. on a report that an inflatable pool raft with two young people had drifted out past the pier head.
On the raft were a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. They’d been in the swim area when the current and wind pulled them out into four-foot waves, and the two were unable to get back to shore. They did not have life jackets, and the raft had started to take on water.
Witnesses reported there was no way the raft was going to make it back to shore under the conditions.
A Van Buren County marine deputy was on duty nearby in the Black River and took his boat to the reported area of the raft and found the two teens. They were then rescued and returned to their families.
The sheriff’s department says the deputy’s quick response helped prevent the situation from further deteriorating.
Van Buren County Sheriff Dan Abbott reminds the public to use extreme caution when out on Lake Michigan and to monitor changing weather and water conditions.
