Its Rip Current Awareness Week!
Do you know how to Break The Grip of The Rip?
Do you know what the flag colors mean? Click above to learn about the flag warning system!
Always check the flag color before you hit the beach or enter the water! Carolina Beach Surf Report is always flying the accurate rip current risk flag at all times!
Today Will Be Yellow Flag Conditions (Thursday, June 11th 2009)
Each year thousands of lifeguards and emergency officials respond to rescue calls for drownings and ocean related events, about 80 % of theses rescues are caused by rip currents estimated bu USLA (United States Lifeguard Association)
Rip Currents are created when waves hit the beach at angles. As a result, this energy creates a current called the long shore current. This long shore current flows along the coastline. It can be easily recognized by watching foam. Swimmers or debris near shore drift up or down the coast, After a set of waves break, a lot of water and energy is pushed towards the shoreline. This displaced water will move along the beach with the long shore current until it finds its way back out to sea. This causes the rip current. Rip currents are narrow, river-like currents that have been fed by the long shore current and sets of waves. Rip currents are between 50 feet and 50 yards wide and can flow up to hundreds of yards past the surfline.
You can easily spot a rip current by its foamy and choppy surface. The water in a rip current can be dirty brown, from the sand being turned up, and moves rapidly out to sea.
If you are caught in a rip current do not panic! The rip current will not pull you under!
Call or wave for assistance or swim parallel to shore in the direction the wind is blowing the current until you are out of the rip, then swim directly towards the shore.
For more information regarding rip currents and Carolina Beach ocean safety please visit the beach safety page located here
