Yesterday morning a massive excavator barge sank to the bottom of Lake Norman after extreme wind gusts stirred up 4’+ waves.
The Cornelius-Lemley Fire Rescue captured a video of the incident after responding to attempt to rescue the barge.
According to their Facebook post, “The crews responded for a tug and barge taking on water. Ultimately the barge and excavator on it sunk. The operators were safe and able to cut the tug free in time. Waves on the lake were reaching 4 feet in spots today, something that only happens once or twice a year. This was due to the 30 mph sustained winds gusting to almost 50 mph.”
The average wind speed on Lake Norman is 2.3 MPH.
According to WindFinder.com, the highest gusts and sustained winds occurred between 10:15am – 11:00am yesterday morning, roughly the time the barge began taking on water;
