'We know the undertow in that area is dangerous': Calls for safety improvements near Port Stanley breakwall

The search continues for a 14 year old who went missing in Lake Erie.

There was a desperate effort on Sunday to find the missing child as dozens of volunteers formed two lines, wading through the water looking for the boy.

Distraught family looked on overwhelmed with emotion.

A 44-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, father and son, were spotted in distress near the breakwall in Port Stanley around 1 p.m.

They were pulled to safety by beach rescue service, but a 14-year-old boy, the man’s other son, was unaccounted for.

The boys’ mother, also at the beach on Sunday, had to be taken to hospital in distress.

Heather Taylor has a long history with search-and-rescue efforts and arrived on scene to offer assistance.

Taylor spoke with family members shortly after they were pulled from the water.

Members of the OPP Underwater Search and Rescue Unit load equipment needed for the search on July 15, 2024. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

She told CTV News on Monday, "I ended up speaking indirectly through an interpreter with the family yesterday. And what came of that is the dangers of that area of the lake they were in. They were closer to the pier. Which, for locals, we know the undertow in lake area in that area is dangerous."

Taylor said the family members told her they had moved to this area from Türkiye less than a year ago.

"Language was a barrier and my thing is educating families who are not from this area on the dangers of the lake," said Taylor.

Many took to social media after the incident promoting ways to increase safety.

One of the recommendations coming out of the online discussions was to have signs with QR codes attached to the existing safety signs warning of riptides and what beach warning flags indicate. The code would link to a web page that would will allow people who don't have English as a first language to get safety information in their own language.

Some of those contributing online had volunteered to make the signs and others said they would make a web link.

While there are signs located at various locations along the beach warning of rip currents near the breakwall, Taylor would like to see buoys put in place extending diagonally from the tip of the break-wall to the beach. The area would be declared a "no-swim" zone.

Signs on Port Stanley’s main beach warn of rip currents near the break-wall on July 15, 2024. (Gerry Dewan/CTV News London)

Taylor admits people may ignore the warnings, but it may help save lives, "Eight years ago, another person lost their life in that same area. Two in eight years is too many."

The OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit (USR) had a dive team back in the water near the break-wall Monday morning and a larger OPP vessel was brought in from Norfolk in an effort to extend the search.

"It accommodates not only the team – the members of the USR team – but also the equipment that they bring with them. And it's an entire plethora of equipment. They'll [have] sonar equipment…quite an extensive list," said Taylor.

With the rough water and unpredictable weather on Monday, the OPP discouraged people trying to conduct their own searches.