(Spencer)– Emergency crews worked over an hour Thursday evening rescuing two people in canoes that capsized on the Little Sioux River in Spencer.
Spencer Fire Chief Doug Duncan says the Communications Center received a call around 6:00 p.m. about a couple of canoes that had overturned in the river east of Riverview Park, along 10th Avenue Southeast. The two men in the canoes managed to stay inside the canoes even though they were swamped with water.
Authorities went to the Woodcliff Bridge on 240th Avenue hoping to intercept the canoes as they traveled downstream. Clay County Conservation was notified to be on the lookout at Oneota Park as well. They even contacted local pilot Tim Steffen to do a flyover to locate the men.
The canoers eventually came out of the river around 7:20 p.m. near St. Lukes in southeast Spencer.
The men, who were not identified, refused medical treatment.
Duncan urges everyone to stay out of area rivers until they’re back in their banks. He says no matter how well you think you know a certain river, the flooding has changed everything about it. Duncan says the currents are stronger and the amount of debris and pollution in the water has increased as well.
(Story from Danielle Hitchings of sister station KUYY in Spencer.).
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