when I was 16 I watched several folks try desperately to save a fella that fell into a spillway , it was weird to say the least ....
somehow he managed to cling to a small hole in the wall of the concrete as the massive turbulence of a water being released in the spillway hammered on him ....
I stood a good ways back and watched as it ensued , there were folks tying ropes on themselves and jumping in with him and throwing life jackets at him and it was just surreal to say the least .
the turbulence in a spillway is a shocking force , several of the floatation devices went down and NEVER came back up ! One fella eventually made it to him and others on the bank drug them out as I watched from afar ...
about the time they got him to shore the po po showed up ......
AND they all got trespassing tickets from him for going into the water where it is was prohibited to be in the first place ....go figure