‘That’s high for us’: More than 180 swimmers rescued at Oceanfront over holiday weekend
VIRGINIA BEACH — Strong rip currents have kept lifeguards at the Oceanfront especially busy this holiday weekend.
More than 180 swimmers were pulled from the water by lifeguards Saturday and Sunday, said Tom Gill, chief of the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service. Sunday was the most hectic, with 120 rescues. There were 62 Saturday. Monday also was busy, but Gill didn’t have numbers for the day at press time.
“That’s high for us,” he said. “Even for a holiday weekend.”
Only three of the rescued swimmers appeared to have taken in water, Gill said, and were sent to a hospital for treatment. The rest just needed to be educated about the water conditions by the lifeguards.
The issue is rip currents, Gill said. They tend to be worse at low tide, and in areas where sandbars are next to deep troughs, he said.
Rip currents form when waves break near the shoreline, piling up water between the breaking waves and the beach, according to the National Weather Service. A person caught in a rip current can be quickly swept away from shore. The best way to escape a rip current is by swimming parallel to the shore instead of toward it, since most rip currents are less than 80 feet wide, the weather service said.
Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service has been flying red flags since Saturday, which means dangerous rip current activity is expected and swimmers should stay out of the water.
But with temperatures in the mid 90s and the heat index around 100 degrees, it’s hard to keep people out, Gill said.
“It’s hot and people want to get in the water and need to get in the water,” he said. “And we understand that.”
Gill recommended that when swimmers see flags up they should ask a lifeguard about the conditions. If they can’t find a lifeguard, they shouldn’t go in, he said. If beachgoers want to cool off, they can wade in, but stay in water below the knee.
Heavy surf and crowded beaches also made for a busy holiday weekend for Outer Banks ocean rescue crews.
Authorities on Hatteras Island reported 21 rescues over the weekend, 16 of them on Sunday as rip currents formed along the shore. Of those, only one was the result of a 911 call. The other struggling beachgoers were spotted by lifeguards, Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue said in a social media post.
At the Oceanfront, lost children is another major issue lifeguards have had to deal with, Gill said. An average of 30 kids a day get separated from their families during busy times, he said.
On Monday, Gill said the service had about 85 lifeguards and supervisors on duty. The Oceanfront has 49 lifeguard stands, with 41 in the resort area between 1st and 42nd streets, six at Croatan Beach and two at the Wyndham hotel at 57th Street.
The lifesaving service recommends that beachgoers swim only in areas patrolled by lifeguards.
“We want to be preventative,” Gill said. “So we ask that people help us by looking for the lifeguards and doing what they ask you to do.”
Staff writer Kari Pugh contributed to this report.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
