Rip Currents Have Killed 7 Panama City Beach Visitors In 9 Days
A string of rip current deaths in Florida’s Panama City Beach have local officials pleading with beachgoers to exercise caution and take safety warnings seriously.
The pleas follow three swimming deaths in one day last Saturday, bringing the total number of fatalities to seven just in the past nine days. Saturday’s slew of deaths made Panama City Beach the deadliest beach in America this year, according to the National Weather Service.
“I’m beyond frustrated at the situation that we have with tragic and unnecessary deaths in the Gulf,” Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford wrote on Facebook Monday. “I have watched while deputies, firefighters and lifeguards have risked their lives to save strangers. I have seen strangers die trying to save their children and loved ones, including two fathers on fathers day.”
Six of the seven deaths occurred under double red flags, the highest level of caution in the beach flag warning system, according to The Panama City News Herald.
Flags are back to yellow today on some Gulf Coast beaches. This weekend, despite red and double red flags, numerous swimmers had to be rescued from the ocean.
Sadly - the beach turned deadly for 3 people in Panama City Beach, FL. pic.twitter.com/jmJH6Y1PpN— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) June 26, 2023
“Government and law enforcement can only do so much in these situations,” Ford continued. “Personal responsibility is the only way to ensure that no one else dies.”
The deaths come as strong rip currents ― fast-moving currents generated by deep channels ― plague the waters off the coast of Panama City Beach. People caught in rip currents are advised to swim parallel to the shore until they make it to calmer waters.
The three people who died Saturday include a 39-year-old woman from Georgia, a 63-year-old man from Georgia and a 68-year-old man from Michigan.
Panama City Beach Councilman Paul Casto told the News Herald he’s considering upping fines for those who enter waters in defiance of red flag warnings and putting code enforcers on the beach.
“We will continue to try and educate the public about the hazards of rip currents, but unfortunately some of them choose to still ignore those warnings and go in the water,” Casto said. “From what I know of these incidents, they knew the dangers and they chose to go in.”
