Survival Window
Sea rescues read off the record the crew left: the hoist camera, the buoy, the case report.
Unicoi County Hospital: How 70 People Got Off the Roof
On 27 September 2024 the Nolichucky River surrounded Unicoi County Hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, a one-story building whose only road was in the 100-year flood plain. Staff took 70...
Sea Ranger: Why the Coast Guard Plane Flew Home
On 1 August 2025 the Sea Ranger, an 81-year-old wooden boat the Coast Guard called a tug, was taking on water in the Gulf of Alaska with four people aboard. A Coast Guard C-130 fou...
El Faro: Two Days the Storm Kept the Coast Guard Out
On 1 October 2015 the cargo ship El Faro sank in Hurricane Joaquin, northeast of Acklins and Crooked Island in the Bahamas, with 33 people aboard. The Coast Guard flew no search fl...
Alaska Coast Guard Rescue: 30 Seconds Before the Rocks
On 12 December 2022 the 45-foot fishing vessel Privateer was being slammed against the rocks of Esther Island, in Prince William Sound, Alaska, with three men and a dog aboard in s...
Hurricane Ian on Sanibel: The Island With No Road Off
On 28 September 2022 Hurricane Ian's storm surge washed away parts of the causeway to Sanibel Island, Florida, and the people still on the island could leave only by boat or helico...
Marine Electric: The Wreck That Created Rescue Swimmers
On 12 February 1983 the coal ship Marine Electric capsized in a gale about 30 nautical miles east of Chincoteague, Virginia. Thirty-four men were aboard; three came back. The water...
Alaska Ranger: Everyone Who Reached a Raft Survived
On Easter Sunday 2008 the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger sank in the Bering Sea before dawn, about 120 nautical miles west of Dutch Harbor. Forty-seven people were aboard; forty-two ...
Hurricane Harvey Rescues: 12 Feet of Water in One Hour
On the night of 26 August 2017, Brays Bayou in Houston rose 12 feet in a single hour, and at 9:27 p.m. the National Weather Service told the city to seek higher ground now. Over th...
HMS Bounty, Hurricane Sandy: How Long Did They Have?
At 4:26 a.m. on 29 October 2012, the tall ship Bounty rolled over inside Hurricane Sandy, about 110 nautical miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, and 16 people went into the Atlantic ...