Three dead, one saved, in another low head dam tragedy

[Glenn MacGrady]

"After a rescue boat capsized near a dam on Lake Springfield in Springfield, Missouri, members of the Springfield Fire Department were forced to rappel from a bridge to save a young girl from the raging waters below. The devastating incident claimed the lives of two people, left one person missing, and sent three rescuers to the hospital. Dramatic footage captures the high-risk rescue effort as emergency crews raced against the powerful current."

In the videos accompanying the article, the hydraulic reversal below the dam looks so long that it appears that the entire river is sloping downhill towards the upstream killer dam. The second video, chronologically first, shows the first rescue Zodiac power boat losing the battle against the reversal and flipping over.

2 dead, 1 still missing after young girl saved in dramatic rescue operation at Missouri lake

Rescue boat capsizes during tense rescue operation, juvenile girl rescued as two people dead, one missing after group swept into dangerous area of a lake in Springfield, Missouri.

www.foxweather.com

 

[MrPoling]

This is so sad. We had a similar incident here several years ago, where an unaware family tubed over a low head dam, and most of them drowned. The poor kid who survived was in the water overnight. That's gotta be so traumatic.

Watching that video I can't figure out why they sent a boat in if they could get a rope to the victim. It seems like such a straightforward decision to send somebody down the rope rather than putting a boat in that hydraulic.