Goshen firefighters rescue stranded kayaker from floodwaters

GOSHEN, Ind. - Goshen firefighters rescued a stranded kayaker from a flooded Rogers Park Thursday afternoon.

The Goshen Fire Department Battalion Chief says three kayakers ventured out into the park a little before 4 o'clock Thursday afternoon, and the current swept them away.

Two of them managed to pull themselves to safety, while the third ended up stranded near his overturned kayak.

Firefighters were able to fight the current and rescue the young man in less than a minute, according to the chief.

The chief says this incident was just the latest in the more than 32 rescues by boat that the department has had to do in the last 24 hours.

He says they've also helped to rescue about 22 people from vehicles or homes that were overcome with water.

“The moving water of the Elkhart River is just too powerful right now. The current, we shouldn’t be walking through it, wading in it, and certainly not kayaking or driving through it. [It] only takes about six or eight inches of water to float a small car or small vehicle, so again we just encourage everybody to stay out of the water at this time," said Battalion Chief Scott McDowell.