Local first responders have again been called on to rescue people lost while on the Chattahoochee River.
Around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 1, White County Fire Services received a call from three kayakers requesting assistance. They set out earlier in the day to take a trip down the river and meet up with their ride at the end of their journey.
“As night fell, the kayakers became disoriented and lost,” according to Habersham County Emergency Services (HCES) which assisted with the call. The lost kayakers got out of the river and tried to find their way out of the woods but were unable to do so and phoned for help.
Personnel from the White County Fire Department, Swift Water Rescue, and EMS, along with HCES, took to the woods in the area of Duncan Bridge Road and Wildwood Outfitters to search for the missing kayakers. Relying on GPS coordinates on the caller’s cellphone and help from a local homeowner who’s knowledgeable about the river, they hiked near the river’s edge and located the lost kayakers.
“After evaluating and determining everyone was safe, crews from White and Habersham assisted the kayakers in carrying their kayaks to a nearby road where they were then able to meet up with their original ride and end their outdoor adventure,” HCES says.
This marks the fourth time since July 9 that local first responders have been called to rescues on the Chattahoochee River in White and Habersham counties. Two women were lost while rafting on the night of July 9. They slept in a field and were found the next day. That same week, a father and son were reported missing while kayaking, and on July 20 first responders rescued a man who was stuck in the river and nearly drowned.
This article has been updated with additional information
