Beach Warning Issued as 8 People Die in 1 Week
Flags warn that the beach is closed to swimmers at Rockaway Beach in New York. Rip currents have killed eight people in Florida in the past week.
Eight people have drowned in Florida since June 20 because of hazardous rip currents, and another rip current statement was issued in Tallahassee on Friday.
High heat in Florida has some people flocking to the ocean to cool off, especially as Independence Day approaches, but the water can pose threats of its own. Sunny days can sometimes provide a false sense of security for dangerous rip currents that can easily overpower a swimmer.
Five of the eight recent deaths have occurred in the Florida Panhandle's Panama City Beach —which boasts "27 miles of white sand beaches along the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico"—after rip currents swept swimmers out to sea, where they drowned.
On Sunday, deadly rip currents killed a 29-year-old man on Panama City Beach, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported. His death comes only days after three men vacationing at Panama City Beach drowned after they swam in the water despite a red flag warning of dangerous conditions. Three other people were killed last Thursday because of rip currents, one of which was in Panama City Beach.
Two of the deaths occurred on the other side of the state when parents of six children on vacation from Pennsylvania drowned in dangerous currents in Stuart Beach. And a few days later, a little further south than that beach, a 60-year-old woman also died due to rip currents on Hollywood Beach near Miami on Sunday.
On Friday, the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Tallahassee issued a statement warning swimmers of dangerous waters. Bay County, Walton County and Gulf County Beaches were included in the warning area.
What to Know About Rip Currents
"Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water," the rip current statement warned. "Swim near a lifeguard. If caught in a rip current, relax and float. Don't swim against the current. If able, swim in a direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the shore and call or wave for help."
NWS meteorologist Israel Gonzalez told Newsweek that Tropical Storm Alberto caused hazardous waters earlier this month, contributing to several of the deaths. Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes or tropical storms that cause disturbances in the ocean, and they can impact a beach even if a tropical storm is hundreds of miles away, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned.
Tropical storms can generate high surf, Gonzalez said, as well as rip currents that pull and tug at swimmers, sometimes pulling them underwater.
"Rip currents kill over 100 beachgoers in the U.S. each year," the NWS office in Tallahassee posted on X, formerly Twitter. "When visiting the ocean, you are safest at beaches with lifeguards. Make sure you know your risk, respect the ocean, & heed the advice of the posted beach flags and beach officials."
Gonzalez told Newsweek that rip currents can be especially dangerous for people vacationing from out of state who might be unfamiliar with ocean hazards.
Swimmers are urged to follow any red flag warnings posted by lifeguards alerting people that the water is unsafe to enter. Gonzalez said rip current activity is anticipated to ramp up on Florida's western coast on Sunday and continue posing a threat into early next week as a tropical disturbance monitored by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) moves into the Bay of Campeche.
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