There
has been a elevated risk for rip currents along panhandle beaches
recently so use caution if you are headed into the water.
A
rip current, also known as a rip tide, happens when a sand bar breaks
causing a strong surface current that can pull swimmers hundreds of
yards off-shore.
About
100 people a year are killed in rip currents nationwide – and they
present a threat along all of Florida’s coasts.
The
current doesn’t pull people down – it pulls them away from the
beach, so most deaths associated with rip currents occur when people
panic and try to swim directly toward shore against the current.
They
usually become totally exhausted and drown.
Since
rip currents are normally only about 10 to 30 yards wide, if you find
yourself caught in one, the best escape, especially for the weak or
non-swimmer, is to wade or swim sideways across the current, parallel
to the beach.
Rip
currents tend to extend on average from 50 to 200 yards offshore, so
another way to make it out alive is to float with the current out
beyond the breakers where the rip current will weaken, then swim
shoreward at an angle away from it.
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