Brevard lifeguards issue warnings to beachgoers about rough waves over the next week
INDIALANTIC - To Brevard Ocean Rescue Chief Eisen Witcher, the sunny skies and tropical warmth expected for the Space Coast this week are deceptively beautiful — but definitely dangerous for those headed to the county’s beaches.
“It’s really the perfect recipe for disaster,” said Witcher, who, along with other county and weather officials, has been monitoring surf conditions over the last few weeks.
After three drownings over the past week — in unguarded areas along the county’s southern shoreline — Witcher on Thursday made a plea with the public to be mindful of rip currents and to stick close to the county’s five guarded beaches.
Typically, there are 450 rescues at Brevard beaches per year, Ocean Rescue officials report — but the county’s lifeguards have carried out 150 rescues just since Thanksgiving as rip currents continue to lash at the Space Coast’s hurricane-battered shores.
“In light of the recent events (involving) the rescues and drownings we’ve had, we want to make sure people don’t go to the beach by themselves. This next week with another tropical system out there, it’s going to bring 6-to-10-foot surf,” Witcher said at a press conference at Howard E. Futch Memorial Park at Paradise Beach.
The first drowning, on Dec. 3, involved a 17-year-old New York girl who struggled after being caught in a rip current, according to Cocoa Beach Police. A 56-year-old woman was found drifting in the water Tuesday at Paradise Beach, a spot popular with locals and tourists, and on Wednesday, a man in his 50s died after being caught in the water near Sunrise Park in Indialantic, Brevard Ocean Rescue officials reported.
The National Weather Service continues to forecast a high risk of dangerous rip currents for Brevard County’s 72-mile-long shoreline.
The worry, say Witcher and others, is that the warm pre-Christmas Florida weather might be too enticing for tourists and residents.
“We have heard from some surfers that the rip current is worse than it’s ever been,” Witcher said.
The weekend forecast shows partly cloudy skies and temperatures reaching summer-like highs in the upper 70s. The strong waves off the Space Coast will be fed by energy from a non-tropical low pressure system churning in the mid-Atlantic.
Ocean Rescue will have lifeguards out but are asking residents to be extremely mindful of the waves and warn that the ocean floor is still unsettled since being stirred by Hurricanes Ian and Nichole.
Brevard County lifeguards are posted at Cocoa Beach Pier, Lori Wilson Park, Paradise Beach, Minutemen Causeway and Alan Shepard Park.
“We’re expected to see these strong swells,” Witcher said.
“It’s beautiful outside but the ocean has decided not to comply.”
J.D. Gallop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Beachgoers in Brevard warned about waves after three drownings
