On June 11th at approximately 1:50 p.m. the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office received a report of 11 kayakers stranded on an island in the Upper Iowa River near Chimney Rock Park. One of the kayakers had overturned and lost their kayak and was hanging onto tree branches awaiting rescue.
Using their drone Decorah Fire and Rescue crews located the party and rescued them to safety. The rescued kayakers were family members ranging in age from 6 to 71 years old. DNR and DOT enforcement also assisted at the scene.