Man, Dogs Escape Injury After Boat Goes Over Mississippi River Dam

Posted: June 13, 2012  |  By: Joe Knight [Leader-Telegram]

A Winona, Minn., man and his two dogs had a close call Saturday when their boat lost power and was swept over the dam on the Mississippi River at Alma.

The boater, John R. Amundson, 49, was able to climb out on a dam gate, and his dogs were rescued before the boat was pulled through the dam, said Barry Simmonds, chief of safety for the St. Paul district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the lock and dam.

Some news reports stated Amundson went through the dam before being rescued, but Simmonds said Amundson was able to climb onto beams connected to the gate on the upstream side of the dam.

"His boat went over the dam," Simmonds said. "He got up on one of the Tainter gates as his boat was going through. He is extremely lucky."

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