Daytona Beach Independence Day beach forecast calls for big crowds, fewer lifeguards

DAYTONA BEACH — With plenty of hot weather in the forecast for the extended Independence Day holiday weekend, massive crowds are expected to descend on the World’s Most Famous Beach, adding to the challenges for lifeguards that already have faced an unusually busy summer of ocean rescues.

“We’re seeing incredible rescue numbers this year,” said Andrew Etheridge, Volusia County Beach Safety director. “With the volume of people on the beach, that only increases the chances of problems with the rip currents that are there.”

Over the three-day holiday weekend that culminates with the July 4th holiday on Monday, Etheridge expects to see “hundreds of thousands of people” out to enjoy sand and surf along the 47 miles of coastline from the Flagler County line south to Canaveral National Seashore.

Those visitors arrive during a summer when Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue is dealing with a nationwide shortage of lifeguards, which means that lifeguards are covering larger areas than they would otherwise.

Short staffed: 'More people to watch': Volusia County beaches have fewer lifeguards watching out for swimmers

Beach Safety hasn’t able to fill 100 seasonal lifeguard positions needed to man the beaches this summer, Etheridge said. That means that there are fewer of the red towers on those 47 miles of Volusia County beaches, usually manned by a full staff of 300 lifeguards.

At the same time, the potential for dangerous rip currents also has been high, resulting in more ocean rescues, Etheridge said.

The rip currents form when big surf knocks holes in sandbars, creating channels for water to rush out. The water then cuts those channels even deeper.

This past weekend, lifeguards rescued 268 people along Volusia County beaches, according to a Beach Safety. This weekend, the rip current potential also remains strong, Etheridge said.

A busy weekend: Volusia beach safety rescues 268 people over weekend, including woman who was resuscitated

“The water has been pretty dangerous,” he said. “That doesn’t bode well; when you mix that with a lifeguard shortage it creates sort of a perfect storm scenario.”

Lifeguards doing 'an incredible job'

Etheridge said that Beach Safety has held several training sessions to boost lifeguard staffing, but those sessions have ended because the trainers that conduct them are needed on the beach during the busy summer months.

“The staffing levels are where they are going to be,” he said. “Usually, we try to have about 80 lifeguard towers, now we’re at about 50 or 60. We prioritize those towers based on data collected over many years and real-time data about conditions on the beach. So we are doing our best to put people in the right place at the right time.”

Etheridge recommends that beachgoers swim in front of a staffed lifeguard tower, adding that real-time up-to-date information on tower locations is available by downloading the Volusia Beaches app on a mobile smart phone. The app offers turn-by-turn directions to find staffed lifeguard towers, he said.

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, Beach Safety will staff an average of 40 towers daily Saturday-Monday, Etheridge said, representing about 50% of the ideal target number.

In addition to lifeguards in the red towers, roughly an additional 45 Beach Safety officers patrolling the beach also are available to assist with rescues, Etheridge said.

“Our officers and EMTs all can go into the water and make rescues — and they do,” he said. “Our staff is stepping up to the plate and doing an incredible job. We have part-timers working overtime. We’re doing everything we can to get people out there.”

Weekend events attract more visitors

In Daytona Beach, the big holiday weekend crowds will be partly attracted by a full slate of free concerts at the Daytona Bandshell, along the Daytona Beach Boardwalk behind the Ocean Walk Shoppes.

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There’s a Bruce Springsteen tribute show by The Boss Project on Friday; a Simon & Garfunkel/Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tribute on Saturday; a Bee Gees tribute band on Sunday; and a July 4th performance by Eagles tribute act Alter Eagles on Monday.

The Saturday and Monday night performances will be capped by fireworks over the ocean.

No fireworks allowed on beaches

With daytime highs in upper 80s through Independence Day, it’ll be beach weather, for sure.

There also will be chances of daily afternoon thunderstorms that range from 40-70% through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne. When thunderstorms approach, beachgoers are urged to seek shelter indoors.

With pyrotechnics on the minds of many beachgoers this weekend, Etheridge offers a reminder that the use or even possession of fireworks is illegal on Volusia County beaches according to county ordinance.

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That remains the case, even with a new state law on the books that makes home fireworks legal on July 4th, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, he said.

From 2020: New Florida law makes fireworks legal on the 4th of July, New Year’s

“They are still prohibited on the beach,” Etheridge said. “We ask that you leave the fireworks at home, leave it to professionals and don’t bring it down to the beach.”

Despite that admonition, many beach visitors invariably do shoot off fireworks on Independence Day, resulting in the need for a massive beach clean-up the next day.

Organized beach cleanups are planned from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the following spots:

• Tom Renick Park, 1565 Ocean Shore Blvd., Ormond Beach;

• Sun Splash Park, 611 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach; an

• Mary McLeod Bethune Beach Park, New Smyrna Beach.

Volunteers are asked to come equipped with a bucket or trash bag, grabbers and gloves to assist with collection and disposal of holiday weekend debris.

Flagler also expecting big crowds

In Flagler County, meanwhile, beach safety officials also are preparing to deal with rip-current-related rescues and big crowds over the holiday weekend in Flagler Beach.

“We’re going to be packed on the Fourth,” said Tom Gillin, ocean rescue director for the city of Flagler Beach. “We’re bracing with a full staff for a lot of people being here.”

The city’s lifeguards watch over about a 3/4-mile stretch of beach both north and south of the pier which parallels the boardwalk, he said.

“We’ve had a couple bad rip currents that have opened up, but we know where they are and we can move people away from them,” he said. “They are out there, and they are strong.”

Police: Road congestion not expected

With big crowds headed to the beach, the Daytona Beach Police Department will be increasing the numbers of officers on patrol over the holiday weekend, said spokesman Messod Bendayan.

“We’ll have more officers than normal this weekend as we usually do on holidays,” he said, adding that it’s not anticipated that there will be a need to close bridges from the mainland to the beachside or institute other traffic controls. “Any holiday weekend, especially in the summer, tends to mean more people on beach, which means more people on beachside. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: July 4th weekend in Daytona Beach: Big crowds, fewer lifeguards