Four Rescued After Boat Tops Colorado River Dam

Apr 07, 05:18 AM

Current Headlines: By Anne Marie Kilday, Houston Chronicle

Apr. 7--The Coast Guard pulled four boaters, including two boys ages 5 and 7, from rushing waters of the Colorado River on Friday night in a dramatic rescue after the boat went over a 150-foot-high dam near Bay City.

A man and a boy were taken by Life Flight helicopter to Memorial Hermann-The Texas Medical Center, where their conditions were not available late Friday.

Another man and boy were treated by emergency medical services personnel in Bay City, said Petty Officer Adam Eggers.

"It was a pretty hairy rescue, to say the least," Eggers said. "Our crew had to deal with the fact that the water was moving very fast, and there was so much of it. The four people were trapped in a cocoon of water, because it was moving over the back of the boat."

The Colorado is swollen from recent rains, according to the Lower Colorado River Authority.

The Houston office of the Coast Guard received a call from the Matagorda County Sheriff's Office early Friday night, requesting assistance after the boat went over the dam and became wedged near the bottom, Eggers said.

A Coast Guard swimmer went into the water to make the rescues, attaching all four of the boaters to a cable lowered by helicopter, Eggers said.

"When they got there, they could hardly even see that boat," Eggers said.

anne.kilday@chron.com

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