Boat recovered from river days after rescue

UPDATE @10:24 a.m. 6/22/2015:

Sidney and Lockington fire crews were back on the scene of where a man was rescued from high water Friday.

Fire crews had left a rescue boat in the river Friday after its engine failed. Crews said today was their first chance to get the boat out of the water.

Crews said it was the most dangerous water rescue Sidney fire has ever responded to.

UPDATE @ 2 p.m. 6/19/2015 : The man rescued from the island is Verlin Powers, 57. He told NewsCenter 7's Steve Baker that he had been camping on the small island in the Great Miami River and became stranded as waters rose on Sunday. He was not injured and taken to Wilson Memorial Hospital for observation.

Crews were alerted to Powers’ predicament shortly after 9:30 a.m. today when a nearby property owner was checking his fields in the 500 block of Miami River Road when he heard someone yelling for help, according to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

Powers said he had been camping since Saturday. He said the water began rising too quickly for him to get on dry land Sunday, and that he had been stranded all week without food or potable water.

Once Powers was aboard the rescue boat, it sustained an engine failure and drifted downstream with Powers and two firefighters. A second rescue boat had to be launched, and a line secured at the bank helped all three reach dry land safely, according to the sheriff’s office.

UPDATE @12:15 p.m. 6/19/2015: A man rescued from an island in the Great Miami River has been taken to a local hospital as a precaution.

Rescue workers said the 57-year-old man is homeless and has been living on the island. He became trapped on the small island Sunday after river levels rose.

FIRST REPORT 6/19/2015

A river rescue is underway in Shelby County right now.

The man told emergency crews he has been stuck on an island in the Great Miami River since Sunday, according to initial reports. It’s happening off of Miami River Road near the Miami/Shelby county line.

Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart said the man has been on the island for several days after he went on the island to camp. He ended up getting stuck after the river rose, he said.

Someone who lives in the area called 911 after hearing the man yell for help.

As of 11 a.m., the man had been rescued and was in a boat, but the boat began drifting downriver after the boat died of mechanical issues caused by the strong current, officials said. Another rescue team is on the way.

The man is ok, and is not injured.