100 Americans are killed by rip tides every year. Here’s what to do if you get caught in one
- 8 years ago
LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY — If you’ve ever gone swimming in an ocean, you’ve seen warnings about rip currents.
According to AccuWeather, rip currents account for 100 deaths each summer in the United States. Swimmers who have been pulled offshore by rip currents often drown when they are unable to keep themselves afloat and swim back to shore.
Last month, rip currents off the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island claimed the lives of three people within the span of three weeks. On June 21, a West Point cadet drowned off a beach in Southampton on Long Island while trying to save another swimmer who was caught in a rip current. On June 18, a 24-year-old woman died in Long Beach Township, New Jersey after being swept out into the middle of the ocean. And on June 5, also in Long Beach Township, a father died of a heart attack after saving his son from a rip current.
Rip currents are powerful, narrow channeled currents of water, usually occurring near underwater sandbars, that flow away from the shore.
They are strongest near the surface of water.
Rip currents form when waves break near the shoreline. As water returns to the sea, a rip current forms to funnel the water back out.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rip currents can be as narrow as 10 or 20 feet in width, although they may be up to 10 times wider.
The NOAA advises swimmers who have been caught in a rip current to remain calm and not to fight the current. Instead, swim across the current in a direction following the shoreline. When out of the current, swim and angle away from the current and towards shore.
According to AccuWeather, rip currents account for 100 deaths each summer in the United States. Swimmers who have been pulled offshore by rip currents often drown when they are unable to keep themselves afloat and swim back to shore.
Last month, rip currents off the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island claimed the lives of three people within the span of three weeks. On June 21, a West Point cadet drowned off a beach in Southampton on Long Island while trying to save another swimmer who was caught in a rip current. On June 18, a 24-year-old woman died in Long Beach Township, New Jersey after being swept out into the middle of the ocean. And on June 5, also in Long Beach Township, a father died of a heart attack after saving his son from a rip current.
Rip currents are powerful, narrow channeled currents of water, usually occurring near underwater sandbars, that flow away from the shore.
They are strongest near the surface of water.
Rip currents form when waves break near the shoreline. As water returns to the sea, a rip current forms to funnel the water back out.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rip currents can be as narrow as 10 or 20 feet in width, although they may be up to 10 times wider.
The NOAA advises swimmers who have been caught in a rip current to remain calm and not to fight the current. Instead, swim across the current in a direction following the shoreline. When out of the current, swim and angle away from the current and towards shore.