Story courtesy National Weather Service
This week is Carolinas Rip Current Awareness Week, as the National Weather Service offices in Charleston, South Carolina, Wilmington, Newport/Morehead City, and Wakefield, Virginia, are teaming up to bring this rip current safety campaign to all of our local beaches.
With warmer weather quickly approaching, now is the time to prepare for the beach season.
If each resident would take a few moments this week to learn about rip currents and beach safety, then we would all be better off we visit the beach.
In the video above from Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, three people are caught in a rip current and subsequently rescued by a lifeguard.
Discoloration of the water can be seen showing the location of the rip current. Three people are being moved away from shore by the current, attempt to swim against the current without luck, and begin to tread water to stay afloat.
A lifeguard enters the water towards the end of the video and has the swimmers grab a flotation device before moving them sideways out of the current in order to swim back to shore.
It is not always obvious if you are caught in a rip current.
One sign you may be in a rip – as you try to swim towards shore you are not making any progress and are becoming tired. With stronger rips, you may feel you are being pulled away from the beach.
Know your options if you are caught in a rip current.
If caught in a rip current:
- – Try to remain calm to conserve energy
- – DO NOT FIGHT the current. Think of a rip current like a treadmill you can’t turn off. You want to step to the side of it.
- – Swim across the current in a direction parallel to/following the shoreline.
- – Once out of the current, swim back towards shore.
- – If you can’t escape the current, try to float or calmly tread water.
- – If at any time you feel you will be unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself: face the shore, wave your arms and yell for help.
