Within two weeks, eleven people have died in rip currents along the Gulf coast. That’s according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service. Rip currents can be very powerful, and this article has information you need to know before getting in the water this weekend.
The aftermath of a deadly weekend, that’s what Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford titled his Facebook post.
The pictures show the trenched dredged in the sand under the water from rip currents. Reports say 11 people died in rip currents along the Gulf Coast – within two weeks. Al Sandrik with the National Weather Service of Jacksonville says there is no difference in the waters of Bay County and our beaches.
“Bay County is particularly susceptible to rip currents, but we have beaches here in Northeast Florida that have the same issues,” Al Sandrik, Warning Coordinator Meteorologist, said.
The water at Jacksonville Beach was calm on Wednesday but the National Weather Service of Jacksonville said there will be an elevated rip current risk at area beaches this week. So News4JAX asked people at the beach if they know how to identify rip currents.
One beachgoer told us, “Usually you see two waves coming in and in between those two waves the water is being drawn out back to sea.”
Another beachgoer told us she was actually caught in a rip current before. “A little bit scary but I got out. You’re supposed to swim parallel to the shore.”
“So there are different signatures associated with the rip current, it may be just a smoother area of water, or waves are breaking on either side of it. But the key point is every single solitary day, there are always rip currents out there” Sandrik said.
He says it’s important to swim by beaches guarded by lifeguards. Also – swimmers can’t panic if they get caught in the rip current. There are some swimmers who say – they just don’t risk it. “When I’m in the water and I get a strong current that’s pulling me back I know that I’m too close and it’s a rip current.”