Boaters Missing After Storm Strikes Regatta in Mobile Bay

By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

April 26,2015; 10:38PM,EDT

 

 

Two boaters are dead and five others remain missing after a storm plowed into a regatta late Saturday afternoon on Mobile Bay, Alabama.
The Coast Guard recovered a second body early Sunday morning after Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier confirmed one death Saturday night to AL.com, the website reported.
One boater was rescued Saturday night, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard has searched a total of 1,773 square miles in its efforts to locate the missing boaters.
The rescue effort will continue through Sunday night, the Coast Guard said.
A radar image of thunderstorms heading for Mobile Bay about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25, 2015.
The Coast Guard was called to the bay around 4:30 p.m. Saturday when the storm hit boaters in the 57th Dauphin Island Race, sponsored by the Fairhope Yacht Club. Almost 120 boats were scheduled to be in the race, according to the club's website.
Dauphin Island clocked a 57 mph wind gust at the time of the boating incident, according to Mesonet.
"These stronger winds could have attributed to greater chop on the water, which is unfavorable to boaters," AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Brian Lada said. "There may be a shower or thunderstorm on Sunday but they are not expected to bring any winds like Saturday's."
Several boaters were plucked from the waters by Good Samaritans and rescuers, officials told WKRG-TV in Mobile.
Coast Guard Sector Mobile said it sent multiple boats and helicopters, including from the nearby Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island, to the scene.
(A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over natural gas rigs in the waters of Mobile Bay off Dauphin Island, Ala., Sunday, April 26, 2015. Coast Guard crews are searching for five people missing in the water after a powerful storm capsized several sailboats participating in a regatta near Mobile Bay. (AP Photo/G.M. Andrews)
AccuWeather.com Staff Writer Kevin Byrne contributed content to this article