Florida responders face bevy of rescues
The Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, TowBoatU.S. and other partner agencies in the Florida Keys responded to 15 separate search-and-rescue cases in less than two hours when high winds and seas caught many boaters unprepared on Thursday.
Between the hours of 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Coast Guard Sector Key West Command Center responded to, among others, a capsized vessel with two people in the water near Islamorada, Fla.; a 40-foot catamaran with 31 people on board that ran aground and was taking on water near Cottrell Key, Fla.; and a sailing vessel with four persons on board that lost propulsion and drifted into the Channel Five Bridge between Craig Key, Fla. and Fiesta Key, Fla.
