TORONTO (Reuters) - About 1,500 Americans floating down a river that separates the United States from Canada had to be rescued from the water when strong rains and winds sent them illegally into Canadian territory, the country’s coast guard said on Monday. 
 
 A Canadian Coast Guard ship tows floatation devices used by U.S. partiers to the Canadian side of the St. Clair River between Michigan and Ontario on August 21, 2016. Canadian Coast Guard/Handout via Reuters 
 
 The Americans were taking part in the annual Port Huron Float Down on Sunday in the St. Clair River, which runs between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. 
 
 The winds blew the flotilla of inflatable rafts and inner tubes off course and toward the Canadian shore. Some rafts deflated, spurring a rescue effort by the Canadian Coast Guard as well as federal and provincial police, coast guard spokeswoman Carol Launderville said in an email. 
 
 Most “floaters” had to be rescued from the water, with many towed to shore, according to the coast guard. 
 
 “They were terrified of entering another country without documentation. No one carries their passport or any ID, and a lot were drinking alcohol,” Peter Garapick, superintendent of search and rescue for the coast guard, told CBC television. 
 
 Some tried to swim back to the United States. 
 
 “We had to pull a lot of people out of the water and say ‘no,’” Garapick said. 
 
 The Americans were gathered at Sarnia, Ontario, and bussed back to the United States by the city’s public transit. 
 
 Sarnia police did not say whether anyone was charged in the incident and there were only minor injuries reported. 
 
 Launderville said the event has no official organizer and poses “significant and unusual hazards” due to the river’s fast-moving current and participants’ lack of life jackets. 
 
 A Facebook page for the event, which dates back more than 30 years in the city of Port Huron, west of the border from Sarnia, made a post Sunday night thanking Canadian authorities. 
 
 “You’ve shown us true kindness and what it means to be amazing neighbors!” the post read. 
 
 The Facebook page appears to be operated by a group named Port Huron Float Down, which says on its website it is not an organizer. The page’s operators did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

 Fort Gratiot resident Jeanne Gardner waits with family and friends for a cab, after ending up in Canada while participating in the Pt. Huron float down. August 21, 2016 BlackburnNews.com photo by Melanie Irwin. 
 
 UPDATE: Float Down Participants Make Unexpected Visit To Canada (GALLERY) 
 
 Inflatable rafts, tubes and other floatation devices littered Sarnia Bay Sunday afternoon. 
 
 Hundreds of participants in the Port Huron float down made an unexpected visit to Canada after being pushed to Sarnia’s shoreline on strong westerly winds. 
 
 Speaking to Blackburn News at the scene, Sarnia police Inspector Doug Warn described the situation as the worst he’s seen for the unsanctioned event. 
 
 “Obviously no one has ID, but our only concern is that everybody is safe,” says Warn. “We’re not concerned about citizenship at this point. If people are tired or cold we want them to get out of the water and make their way home. Make some phone calls and so forth. We’re really not concerned about anything else. 
 
 “Once they are into this current in Sarnia Bay, there is no way that they can paddle out. Some people are getting towed, but you have to be careful when you’re doing that so you don’t swamp some of these unsteady crafts and put people in jeopardy. So, they’re making judgement calls.” 
 
 Vessels from the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard, Sarnia Fire and Rescue Services, Point Edward fire department, and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department could be seen assisting people in Sarnia Bay and the St. Clair River. Members from the RCMP, security and fire personnel from chemical valley companies, the Red Cross and the general public also assisted. 
 
 Four to five Sarnia Transit buses made 20 trips, taking 1,500 people back across the Blue Water Bridge. Sarnia Police closed off Front St. between Davis and Lochiel to allow the buses through. 
 
 Lambton EMS reported only minor injuries, primarily cuts and bruises from people trying to scramble ashore. 
 
 Fort Gratiot resident Jeanne Gardner decided to scale the railing at Sarnia Bay to get out of the water. She was with her son, daughter and two of their friends. 
 
 “I’ve done this since I was in my 20s and I’m in my 50s now and never been in Canada illegally, ever,” says Gardner. “I have almost ended up in Canada a few times but I’ve always managed to get back, just not today. 
 
 “We spend about an hour and a half paddling and we were going nowhere. It just was not working. So the police officer told us to just come ashore.” 
 
 The group told Blackburn News they were calling a cab company to come get them but expected they may be in Canada for a while because they didn’t have any ID or money with them. 
 
 Shipping traffic was halted on the St. Clair River from 12pm until 8pm Sunday from the Blue Water Bridge to Stag Island. 
 
 Last year, over 5,000 people went into the water on various floatation devices at Lighthouse Park in Port Huron. 
 
 With files from Lee Michaels
– It was one of the strangest invasions in Canadian history: An armada of around 1,500 partying Americans on inner tubes and plastic rafts ended up in Canada after strong winds swept them from the Michigan side to the Ontario side of the St. Clair River during an annual rafting event Sunday, reports Reuters. Cops and the Canadian Coast Guard had to rescue hundreds whose rafts had deflated—and talk some of them out of trying to swim all the way back to the US. "They were terrified of entering another country without documentation. No one carries their passport or any ID, and a lot were drinking alcohol," Coast Guard search and rescue chief Peter Garapick tells the CBC. Authorities in Sarnia, Ontario, say this year's weather conditions made it impossible for people taking part in the Port Huron Float Down event to paddle back to the US, reports the Blackburn News. "The people who take part in this are not mariners," Garapick says. "They don't look at the wind, the weather and the waves. We knew from the get-go, the winds were going to cause a problem." No major injuries were reported, and after the rescue, Sarnia Transit buses made 20 trips to bring all the Americans home. "You've shown us true kindness and what it means to be amazing neighbors," organizers wrote on the event's Facebook page. (Last month, two young Canadians playing Pokemon Go accidentally ended up in Montana.)