HOUSTON — Coast Guard air and boat crews and a Texas City Fire Department boat crew rescued two kayakers who went adrift in strong currents north of the Moses Lake flood gate Sunday evening.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., witnesses on shore contacted Texas City 911 dispatch, reporting two kayakers offshore the entrance at Moses Lake waving their arms and paddles as they tried to paddle toward shore against the current.
The dispatcher contacted Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders who launched a Station Galveston 29-foot response boat crew and an Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew to respond. Both of the men were wearing life jackets.
The fire department located one kayaker and brought him to shore, and the Air Station Houston aircrew used their rescue swimmer to save the second kayaker and transferred him to Air Station Houston, where EMS was standing by.
"The fact that they had life jackets on greatly assisted us and the fact that they stayed with their kayaks helped," said Lt. Cmdr. Brent Yezefski, command duty officer at Sector Houston-Galveston. "Even if they were in the water, life jackets assist in keeping them higher out of the water, giving us a better chance of seeing them."