Here's why parking on a 'frozen' lake isn't the best idea
Digital Reporter
Sunday, February 7, 2016, 2:48 PM - The owners of about 15 vehicles learned the hard way that parking on a lake isn't the best idea.
At Wisconsin's Winterfest Saturday, officials had allowed people to park on the frozen Lake Geneva as parking lots in the area were full. However, the ice cracked under the weight of the vehicles. It's believed mild weather caused the ice to weaken.
There is scientific concern as ice coverage on the Great Lakes is near record-low levels for this time of year. As of February 3, only 5.7 per cent of the lakes are covered with ice.
Fortunately, no one was injured. Emergency crews and dive teams were called to pull the vehicles out of the water but only five of them were salvaged. The remaining 10 were totaled, according to local police.
RELATED: Driver parks by Lake Erie, realizes he's made a huge mistake
It seems parking on the lake is a regular occurrence to those living in the area.
"We were coming in and there were a lot of cars and not a lot of parking spots, and we looked and I said, 'oh look there's plenty of cars parked on the lake. People park on the lake all the time from what I understand so let's do it,'" Laurie Oberhelman, owner of one of the vehicles told WDJT Milwaukee. "It was a bad choice."
The cars plunged into the lake during the judging of the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition.
The incident sparked a social media frenzy. Here's a few of the photos that were shared online.
Boat ramps can be very dangerous --- road salt often weakens the ice near them. @WISN12News pic.twitter.com/Phs0SyWWsR
— Chris Gloninger WISN (@ChrisGloninger) February 6, 2016
Cars sinking at #LakeGeneva pic.twitter.com/A3PhL6Q3LI
— Neel (@DesiMD77) February 6, 2016
Welcome to Lake Geneva. Park on ice at your own risk. #lakegeneva #Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/sgl0cuxnOQ
— Pete (@peteopolis) February 6, 2016
#lakegeneva why you don't park on ice pic.twitter.com/lsptNr6Aip
— Gregory Simon (@Gmoney_simon411) February 6, 2016
The cars in the lake drew a bigger crowd than the ice sculptures at #LakeGeneva pic.twitter.com/boljhvShsA
— Milwaukee Media (@MediaInMilwauke) February 7, 2016
Did they not see the little sign there #LakeGeneva USA#YouHadOneJob pic.twitter.com/8T5PdY6UFj
— Maria M (@tweertweet) February 7, 2016
SOURCE: WDJT Milwaukee