Two Drownings on Georgia Lakes Over Memorial Day Weekend

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Law Enforcement Division has issued its final statistics for the 2013 Memorial Day weekend.

The division is reporting two drownings over the weekend, one in the Augusta Canal on Sunday and another on a private pond in Coffee County.

There were 39 boating under the influence arrests made in 2013. The department also recorded 6 boating incidents, which resulted in 5 boating-related injuries.

On Lake Allatoona, there were no reported drownings between Saturday and Sunday, but there were five Boating under the Influence reports, three of which came on Sunday. New laws have changed the drunk boating limit to be the same as the drunk driving limit.

There was one boating incident reported on Allatoona between Saturday and Sunday, with two boating incident related injuries resulting. Thankfully, there were no boating incident fatalities.

On all waters under the division's watch, there was one reported drowning before Monday, which occurred on Sunday. There were 16 BUIs reported on Sunday, making the pre-Monday total 24.

Two boating incidents were reported on Sunday, bringing the total over the two weekend days to three. Four injuries were reported in the three incidents, two of which came on Sunday. No fatalities were reported.

In 2012, there were two drownings over Memorial Day weekend, including one in the region that serves Lake Allatoona. In our area last year, there were 3 BUIs and one boating incident that did not result in an injury or a fatality.

To learn more about boating and boating safety in Georgia's waters, please visit the Department of Natural Resource's website.

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