Four women pulled to safety after almost going over Longhorn Dam

AUSTIN, Texas - Video captured at Lady Bird Lake shows a boat hanging over the edge of Longhorn Dam Thursday.

"They approached the dam, weren't paying attention, they were talking to each other," said Officer Brad Smith with the Austin Police Department.

According to Austin police, four women on an electric boat got swept up in the current near the dam. Their boat was not strong enough to escape. "At that point, it was just keeping them from going over," said Jame Cane with Retro Boat Rentals. 

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Cane rushed to help while waiting for more to arrive and was able to tie a rope to the boat. "It was a little tricky getting close to them with the current going over the waterfall but I was able to tie a line onto them," said Cane.

While his boat was not strong enough to pull the girls to safety, he was able to keep them from falling over. The Austin lake patrol arrived shortly after to help. "Props to him for helping out with that," said Officer Smith.

Officer Smith said the dam can be more deadly than people realize which is why people need to pay attention to the warnings about getting too close. "If you look on the other side of Longhorn Dam there is actually concrete on the very bottom so if you fell off you'd end up hitting concrete," said Smith.

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The Austin lake patrol is one of the divisions set to take a hit this August due to budget cuts in the department. Officer Smith said he is not sure what would have happened if they were not nearby. 

"Not sure what kind of rescue it would have been. Luckily, we were on patrol on Lady Bird in a boat going up and down. We were by the Texas rowing dock when the call came out so we were able to zip right there when the call came out and help with the recovery," said Officer Smith.

All four on the boat were not injured and able to walk away from what could have been a disaster.