SARNIA, Ont. — A smaller crowd than usual floated down the river that separates Sarnia, Ont., from Port Huron, Mich., on Sunday, officials said, pointing to stormy weather and highly publicized warnings about participating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the event winded down on Sunday afternoon, the Canadian Coast Guard said roughly 100 Canadians and 900 Americans took part in the decades-old event known as the Float Down.
Incident commander Kathleen Getty said that's down from previous years, when thousands of people took part.
She said people were waiting for heavy rain to subside, but they eventually decided to jump into the river in spite of the inclement weather.
"It's a lot less people than in past years, I think the weather has deterred a lot of them," said Getty, adding that there were no injuries or accidental border crossings as of the late afternoon.
"It's been pretty calm, I think the lower numbers make a big difference."
Officials were concerned that wind gusts could blow people onto either side of the border, Getty said, but the weather remained calm enough.
Officials on both sides of the border had asked people not to take part because it would be difficult to social distance in adherence with pandemic guidelines, and because of the closure of the Canada-U.S border.
Getty said the Float Down is dangerous in the best of conditions, but most people seemed to heed warnings over COVID-19 and stormy weather on Sunday.
In 2014, a 19-year-old who the coast guard described as an experienced swimmer drowned during the event.
Two years later, strong winds and heavy rain pushed roughly 1,500 American participants to the Canadian side of the river, leaving them stranded without cash, cell phones or ID. In some cases, the coast guard said, they were suffering from injuries and hypothermia.
But during the pandemic, RCMP were warning the consequences could be even worse.
They said crossing the marine border into Canada for optional or discretionary purposes such as touring, sightseeing and recreational fishing may result in fines of up to $750,000 or imprisonment for up to six months.
The event is set to wrap up at 8 p.m. when the river re-opens to marine traffic, and Getty said officials will start asking people to get out of the water from the late afternoon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2020.
Salmaan Farooqui, The Canadian Press
