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by Mary Syrett
You’re relaxing for the day on a Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean beach, ensconced in a lounge chair reading a book. The kids are nearby swimming in the surf. It’s a picture-perfect day.
Suddenly, you hear little Johnny screaming. Horrified, you look up in time to see him being carried out to sea by a powerful force of nature. Your son has been caught in a rip current. Nationally, lifeguards rescue approximately 60,000 people from drowning a year, and rips caused an estimated 80 percent of these rescues.
“Many people come to the beach, and it’s such a carefree environment, it’s easy to overlook the dangers,” notes Raymond Blanco, a Gulf of Mexico seasonal lifeguard.
Rip currents deserve respect, but you needn’t fear them. Lifeguards sometimes intentionally swim into rips to quickly reach someone who is beyond the surf, and surfers find rips useful to easily get out to the big waves that they crave. Of course, lifeguards and surfers are very proficient swimmers and have experience swimming in surf conditions.
What Is a Rip Current?
Waves break variously on different parts of a shore—in
some places waves are strong and in others they are weak.
These differing conditions carve out channels in sandbars
that lie just offshore.When water returns to the beach, it follows
the path of least resistance, which is typically through
these channels. This action creates a strong current, capable
of sweeping people quickly away from land and out to sea.
Rip currents are most hazardous around low tide, when water
is already pulling away from the beach.
Spotting a Rip Current
Rip currents can be found anywhere there is breaking surf.
Look for waves breaking over sandbars. Then look for deeper
channels without waves breaking. This is likely where water is
moving away from shore. Rip currents look similar to a river flowing out to sea with little chops breaking
against the flow of water and sand
getting carried along. Sometimes you can
see a rip current because it looks like a
stream with a light foam edge.
Minimize the Danger
The single most important thing you
can do to keep your kids safe in any water
is to teach them to swim. Also, make sure
they only swim with a parent or lifeguard
present.
Head the Warnings
Many beaches have rip current advisories
posted. Follow the instructions on
these warnings, even if doing so means
you can’t swim at the beach on a particular
day. Beginning Memorial Day weekend
and continuing through the
summer, the National Weather Service
adds rip current information to weather
forecasts when the risk of rip currents
increases along the Gulf of Mexico and
Georgia’s Atlantic coast. A Lakeshore
Hazard Message will be issued especially
for those times when rip current risk is
determined to be high.
If you get caught in a rip current:
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Remain calm to conserve energy
and think clearly.
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Think of the rip as being similar to a treadmill that can’t be turned off, so you need to quickly step to the side. Swim out of the current in a direction following the shoreline. Once out of the current, swim at an angle away from the current, towards shore.
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If you are unable to swim out of a
rip current, calmly tread water.
When out of the current, swim
towards shore.
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If you are still unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself by waving your arms and yelling for help.
If your child gets caught in a rip current:
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Staying calm is important, but so is
yelling. People on shore need to know
there is an immediate problem.
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Floating is the best course of
action. There is no way a child
can out-swim a rip current once it
is pushing through the channel. If
your child tries to swim against the
current and becomes exhausted, he or
she may drown.
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Should you attempt a rescue, make certain you have a flotation device such as a life preserver or an inflatable raft with you. You definitely don’t want to swim away from shore and become exhausted yourself.
Where there is water, there is danger, but both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean offer magnificent beaches to be enjoyed by families. The key is to be informed and be careful so your family can safely enjoy beach vacation fun to the fullest.
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