Accident Database

Report ID# 643

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  • Caught in Low Head Dam Hydraulic
  • Does not Apply
  • Solo Paddling

Accident Description

On April 23rd a man was killed when his powerboat stalled out in the fast moving Des Plaines River and went over Hoffman Dam. The man was killed; his wife clung to a tree branch and was rescued. John Nelson, who sent in the report, says you can see a warning sign perched on the lip of the dam in news reports. He thinks it ought to say, "If you can read this, you're too dam close!"

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