Temperatures are rising, and people are flocking to beaches to try and cool off, but swimmers are being urged to be on the lookout for a hidden danger along the US coastline that has already led to multiple deaths so far this summer – rip currents.
A rip current is a strong, narrow current of water that moves away from the shoreline and out to sea at a high rate of speed and can occur at any beach with breaking waves.
Even the Great Lakes can experience rip currents.
Rip currents have already been reported along the US coast from the Florida Panhandle through the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast, and the FOX Forecast Center expects them to remain a potential problem through at least the weekend.
Deadly rip currents continue in Florida
Florida is seeing a high risk of rip currents along the Panhandle, while the east coast of the Sunshine State from West Palm Beach to Jacksonville is seeing a moderate risk of rip currents.
The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee issued a Rip Current Statement, urging beachgoers to be vigilant.
“While weather will be nice for beachgoers, dangerous rip currents will lurk just below the surface, despite surf of only around two feet,” the NWS said. “Beachgoers should take note of all beach flags and follow the orders of beach safety officials.”
This continued warning comes after at least eight people have been killed by rip currents in Florida over the past several days.
Officials said an Oklahoma teenager and four others died near Panama City Beach. A man in his early 20s drowned off the same beach on Sunday.
A mother and father visiting Hutchinson Island near Port St. Lucie with their six children drowned when they were swept away by a rip current.
Mid-Atlantic sees high risk of rip currents Tuesday
Those heading to one of the pristine beaches along the North Carolina coast will also need to be on the lookout for rip currents.
There is a moderate risk of rip currents along Cape Hatteras, with a high risk of rip currents just to the south.
The NWS office in Newport/Morehead City in North Carolina issued a Beach Hazard Statement warning visitors to be mindful of rip currents. It included beaches from Cape Lookout to Surf City.
Swimmers at Northeast beaches also at risk
Swimmers along beaches on Long Island in New York will also need to pay attention to conditions amid a rip current threat there.
“Anyone visiting the beaches should stay out of the surf,” NWS office in New York said in a Rip Current Statement. “Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.”
How to survive a rip current
If you’re swimming, and you feel yourself being pulled out into the open water, stay calm.
The rip current likely won’t pull you under, it will just pull you away from the shoreline. While still terrifying, staying calm can mean the difference between life and death.
Try to float in the water. Fighting the current will only make you tired.
nstead, swim out of the rip current by swimming parallel to the shore, and then follow the waves back to shore.
