A dozen drowning deaths by rip currents has sounded alarm bells on Florida beaches, where there are not enough lifeguards to prevent bathers from going under the water, despite red flag warnings.
Stretching from the Panhandle to the Alabama border, some of America’s most beautiful beaches are now also its deadliest, according to National Weather Service data reported by NBC News.
Seven of the 12 deaths were in Panama City Beach, which now has the highest number of apparent drownings in a single US location this year, according to the “Surf Zone Fatalities” database.
All of the fatalities were men between the ages of 39 and 68, who succumbed to rip currents, narrow and vigorous torrents of water originating near the shore to the area where the waves break, flowing out into the open sea.
“The combination of southwestern waves and a strengthening sea breeze will increase the height of the waves and increase the risk of rip currents,” said meteorologist Kathryn Prociv. “The ebb in tide from noon to early afternoon today will also increase the risk of rip currents.”
Adding to the danger is a chronic shortage of skilled first responders, said Tom Gill, spokesman for the nonprofit organization United States Lifesaving Association.
“Swimming at an actively patrolled beach is always the safest option. But not all beaches are patrolled by a lifeguard and the intense heat has pushed many people into the water,” he said.
By comparison, there had been a total of 60 apparent drownings across the country as of Wednesday.
Panama City Beach spokeswoman Debbie Ingram said they don’t have enough lifeguards to patrol the six miles of beach in their resort community, a favorite destination for spring break revelers.
“Recruitment is a struggle. We compete with other coastal communities, some of which offer higher salaries. Many times we get college students coming back to study,” he admitted.
For his part, Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford, whose jurisdiction includes Panama City Beach, said beachgoers who break the law and have to be rescued by deputies are partly to blame for the “tragic and unnecessary deaths.” in the Gulf of Mexico.
“These same heroes, who have risked everything to save others, have been insulted and finger-pointed as they attempt to warn visitors of the dangers that threaten their lives,” Ford wrote Sunday.
For the past three weeks, Florida and much of the South have suffered a brutal early season heat wave, with temperatures in the triple digits in some areas.
Although the “staffing levels” of first responders this year are better than last year, Gill said that “employment agencies still have to fight for every prospect they can get because there are still more jobs than first responders available. .”
On a tragic weekend of celebrating parents, Alabama man drowned after rescuing her daughter from rushing currents at Panama City Beach.
Christopher Pierce, 47, saved his daughter from death when the minor “was hit by a rip current” on June 18, but failed to prevent his own.
Other also perished in the sea in Daytona Beach, after saving his son and his friends from succumbing to the surf on the beach.
Lori McElligott, the wife, told the press that she was in a wading pool with her three-year-old son, when her 11-year-old son and two family friends got caught in a rip current; it was then that Mark Bryson rushed to their aid and successfully rescued them, but he was unable to save himself from the strong current.
