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(Reuters) – A parade of boats in support of US President Donald Trump filled Lake Travis in Texas on Saturday, generating waves and choppy waters that caused at least four boats to sink and others to crash against the rocks. local officials said, adding that no one was hurt.
“That was really an exceptional number of boats,” said Kristen Dark, a public information officer for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, whose officers patrol the lake. “Several of the ships sank.”
Lake Travis is a reservoir on the Colorado River that is a popular place for boating, fishing, swimming, and other recreational activities.
Dark said additional officers had been deployed due to expectations that Trump’s “boat parade on Lake Travis” would increase the number of boats in the water, but they still received a large number of calls for help.
“When they all started moving at once, it generated trails,” Dark said.
The event had been announced on Facebook, calling for boats of “all shapes and sizes” to participate and for owners to decorate their boats in “patriotic colors and fly as many Trump flags as they can.”
Despite the incidents, no injuries or medical emergencies were reported, said Christa Stedman, a spokeswoman for Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Edited by Dan Grebler)
