‘Nothing we could do': 6 dead, scores of boats damaged in Lake Tahoe storm

San Francisco Chronicle​

22-06-2025

A sudden, violent storm Saturday afternoon churned up 8-foot swells and howling winds on Lake Tahoe, capsizing a powerboat and leaving at least six people dead, two hospitalized and two still missing as of Sunday, officials said.
The 27-foot Chris-Craft Launch 27 went down near D.L. Bliss State Park shortly after 3 p.m., according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said the group of 10 on board was caught amid plunging temperatures and unexpectedly rough waters, with wind gusts topping 35 mph.
Chad Shelton, a local resident who keeps his boat at Camp Richardson Marina, said he was stunned to hear the model of boat that capsized, noting its sleek design and reputation for performance.
Shelton estimated the vessel's value at 'about $2 million' and said he did not believe it would have been a rental.
He also pointed out that the area where the boat went down — near a rock formation known as Rooster Rock — features an underwater drop-off more than 300 feet deep.
Shelton also heard from others at the marina that as many as 100 boats may have sunk during the storm, though that figure has not been confirmed by authorities. His boat, he said, was undamaged.
Another witness said the amount of sunken boats was much lower — around 10, with dozens of damaged vessels washing ashore.
Elsewhere along the lake, storm damage extended far beyond the fatal capsizing.
At Camp Richardson Marina, officials reported multiple boats damaged or submerged. Some washed up on the shoreline outside The Grove Beach Bar & Grill, though staff said the restaurant itself escaped harm.
'There were two sunken vessels in the marina and 'seven or eight' that detached from the dock and washed up on shore,' said Angel Tapia of the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response. Most of the boats were rentals, he added, and all were heavily damaged. Owners are being contacted.
Tapia's team is also working to contain possible environmental fallout.
'We're sucking up petroleum,' he told the Chronicle, noting that no fuel tanks had been found severely ruptured. 'We're mitigating and preventing environmental impacts' to keep fuel from spreading across the lake.
On Sunday, the sheriff's office issued a new warning for residents living near the lake, citing concerns over a hazardous materials incident at the Camp Richardson pier.
Homeowners along Jameson Beach Road were asked not to use their water systems 'out of an abundance of caution' while officials assess possible contamination.
'There is concern that the water system for the homes along Jameson Beach Road may be impacted,' the Office of Emergency Services said in a public advisory. Updates will be issued as evaluations continue.
For longtime Tahoe boaters, the storm was unlike anything they'd seen.
Brian Swenor, who splits his time between Willow Glen and Tahoe, was cruising in Emerald Bay with his wife and their two poodles when, he said, the sky turned in an instant.
'My wife was needlepointing, I looked up and it was game on,' Swenor said. 'The wind was blowing so hard that the waves were gaining on us. I just kept going — there was nothing we could do. I had to kind of surf the top of the waves.'
In 20 years of boating on the lake, Swenor said, he had 'never, ever' experienced a storm like that.
Authorities confirmed the vessel was a Chris-Craft Launch 27, a sleek, high-performance bowrider that typically retails for nearly $200,000. Powered by a Mercury V8 6.2-liter engine, the model is known for its speed and stability.
The sheriff's office said it 'received multiple reports of a capsized boat in South Lake Tahoe.'
Rescue crews responded quickly, but six people were already dead when they were pulled from the water. The two survivors were hospitalized with hypothermia and other injuries. As of Sunday morning, two people remained missing, and search operations continued with divers and sonar-equipped boats.
Officials have not released the names of the victims pending notification of family members. It was not immediately known whether any of the passengers were children or anyone on board had been wearing life jackets.
The National Park Service warns that water temperatures below 70 degrees can cause hypothermia quickly, even in summer. On Sunday, Lake Tahoe's surface temperature hovered just above 58 degrees, according to the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at UC Davis.
In such conditions, a person without a life jacket can lose motor function within 10 minutes. Wearing a flotation device may extend survival time up to an hour.
The storm arrived without warning and hit some of the lake's busiest recreational areas at the height of a weekend afternoon.
Isabella Mah, who was visiting from Mariposa, told the Chronicle she was on a pontoon boat in Emerald Bay with a group of six other women celebrating a bachelorette party when the storm hit.
Two of the women were pregnant, she said, calling the ride back to the dock 'one of the most scary experiences of my life.'
'I just closed my eyes and prayed,' she said, adding that Sunday, the group was 'shaken.'
D.L. Bliss State Park, where the accident occurred, is on Lake Tahoe's southwest shore, just north of Emerald Bay. The scenic area is a popular destination for boaters and kayakers, especially during summer weekends.
By Sunday morning, the lake had quieted again, but crews from the sheriff's office and dive teams continued their search.