Travis County Sheriff's Office says intense heat boosts lake danger

LAKE TRAVIS, Texas (KXAN) — With the unofficial start of summer taking place this weekend, the Travis County Sheriff's Office is reminding lake visitors to take extra precautions amid the intense heat.

Kristen Dark, TCSO senior public information officer, said heat exhaustion can make common lake hazards more dangerous as lake goers could become fatigued more quickly than expected.

"It could be anything from a medical emergency, it could be a freak wave that comes up, it could be someone who's tired and has been out on the lake all day. In a lake it's that's kind of the great equalizer," Dark said.

According to statistics Dark shared, TCSO recovered four missing persons from Lake Travis in 2023.

She said doing things, like wearing a floatation device, keeping track of members in your party and knowing where you are on the lake before calling 911 can help prevent similar tragedies this summer.

"You've got to do everything you can on your end to be using those preventative methods to make sure you don't get in an emergency situation," Dark said.