Central Texas firefighters warn of dangers of low water crossings after drowning

CRAWFORD, Texas (KWTX) - Never swim in or around a low water crossing. That’s the message fire officials are stressing after a 17-year-old drowned near a low water crossing in Crawford on Sunday.

According to McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara, the 17-year-old boy was swimming by a low water crossing over the Middle Bosque River.

The river was overflowing and had strong currents that pulled him underwater. He ended up getting swept into a culvert that had debris in it, got trapped and ended up drowning.

Fire officials say people should think twice before swimming in or around low water crossings, especially when the crossing is flooded.

”The water that’s coming through a low water crossing could be coming from miles upstream,” Jimbo Snyder with Morgan’s Point Resort Fire & Rescue said. “While the weather may be nice where you’re at, you still have water coming from upstream.”

Heavy rainfall could bring tree limbs, street signs, barbed wire and other debris to those streams.

”They might not look very large, but they can act similar to ice bergs where you only see part of a log, but it could be a very large log underneath,” Snyder said.

It only takes about 6 inches of water to sweep a car away, and a person swimming could easily be thrust into piles of debris in the water.

”I personally have witnessed people that have done this for years and years over and over and they’ve crossed the same low water crossing or played in the same river area 30 or 40 times,” Phillip Bannister with the Killeen Fire Department said. “Then this one time they get swept away.”

Fire officials say that if someone got carried away by the strong currents, it could take them a while to locate and rescue them.

”Make good decisions,” Shon Cavett with the Waco Fire Department said. “A lot of times people will come out here and see faster moving water and like let’s go play. Sometimes it ends in tragedy.

Fire officials suggest visiting lakes and pools as safer alternatives to low water crossings.