Man rescued after boat overturns on Monongahela River near Charleroi Lock and Dam
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A man was rescued on the Monongahela River on Friday morning after his boat overturned near the Charleroi Lock and Dam.
The Rostraver Fire Department said he was in a small recreational boat and may have gotten too close to the doors of the lock when they opened, causing his boat to flip over.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the locks are very dangerous and remind boaters to "know, take and wear."
"Know the water that you're in, take a safe boater's course and wear your life jacket," said John Dilla, chief of the Locks and Dams Branch for the U.S Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District.
He said there's expected to be a huge uptick in recreational boaters going through the locks this holiday weekend and said you should stay 500 to 1,000 feet back from the lock if you're waiting to go through it.
"Pay attention to the traffic signals. If it's red, stay back, stay back 1,000 feet or more in most cases. When it turns to yellow, it's OK to start coming in because we're seeing a safer situation and we're getting that chamber ready for you to come in," Dilla said. "When you see green, come on in and the lock operators are standing there to help you with lines and instruct you and get you through the locks as safely as possible."
He said it can be dangerous if a boater gets too close.
"Directly around the locks and the dams, there's turbulent water everywhere. There's machinery moving. There are things that you necessarily may not see when we discharge water from a lock chamber. A very calm water right at the bottom of that lock all of a sudden becomes very turbulent, and you may not have time to react," Dilla said.
He encourages everyone, whether they are driving a boat or not, to take a boater safety course, know the waterway you're on and watch for hazards. He said you should always wear a life jacket.
"Statistics prove that the chances are higher that you can survive an incident in the water if you wear a life jacket," Dilla said.
The man rescued Friday, the fire department says, is doing OK. He was rescued by a tugboat. His boat was also recovered. It's unclear if he was wearing a life jacket.