North Carolina lifeguards prepare for holiday surge, with an eye on rip currents

By Will Atwater

It’s “go time” for North Carolina lifeguards.

This weekend, with temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees across much of the state and throngs of people are expected to descend on its beaches seeking sun, fun and relief from the heat, the safety keepers will have their hands full. 

More than 2 million North Carolinians are expected to venture 50 miles or more from home during the July Fourth holiday travel period, according to AAA.

“This holiday weekend is the lifeguard superbowl,” said Tom Gill, president and media representative for the United States Lifesaving Association, a nonprofit that provides lifeguard training and certification. “You’ll see the highest number of people on the beach, in most places, all summer long.” 

As those crowds spill onto the beaches and in the water, lifeguards will be on the lookout for a significant threat to beachgoers: rip currents.

Rip currents don’t announce themselves. They don’t rage or foam or look particularly different from the surrounding ocean. Yet research analyzing three decades of lifeguard rescues found they account for nearly 82 percent of all beach emergencies. The United States Lifesaving Association estimates roughly 100 drowning deaths are caused by rip currents in the U.S. every year. 

This year, rip currents have already caused 23 fatalities nationally, according to data provided by the National Weather Service.

What is a rip current?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association defines rip currents as powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water prevalent along the East, Gulf and West coasts of the U.S., as well as along the shores of the Great Lakes. They tend to form near the shore where waters with less wave-breaking action are “sandwiched between water with greater wave breaking.”

Rip currents “are found on almost any beach with breaking waves and act as ‘rivers of the sea,’ moving sand, marine organisms, and other material offshore,” according to NOAA.

Several factors can contribute to the formation of rip currents, including tropical storms hundreds of miles off the coast, wind direction and speed, and sandbars that create natural channels for water to drain back offshore.

Carolina Beach in New Hanover County is a popular destination for beachgoers and a hotspot for rip current activity — and rescues. The sandbars off Carolina Beach are particularly prone to forming these dangerous channels.

“When we started in April to Memorial Day weekend, our numbers were already at 100 plus rescues,” said Shawn Kelly, ocean rescue captain for the Town of Carolina Beach. Kelly said the sandbars off Carolina Beach are cut by deep gaps that act like channels. When waves push water toward shore, that water drains back out through these gaps like a fast‑moving river — “essentially that river is a rip current.”

While swimmers are at greatest risk from rip currents, longshore currents present a secondary hazard.

A longshore current “pushes you along the shore,” said Terry Lebo, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It’s not as dangerous in one respect as a rip current because it’s not dragging you out. But it can knock you over and push you into stuff, and then that can cause problems if you’re not a really good swimmer.”

Fortunately, lifeguards, warning systems and rescue protocols are designed to protect swimmers from both hazards. 

Protecting the public

Carolina Beach has 20 lifeguard stations spread over the three-mile coastline, Kelly said.

“I don’t think you can ever have enough lifeguard coverage,” Kelly said. He estimated that on a busy day, for a single lifeguard tower that covers about 100 yards of beach, there could be 3,000 to 4,000 people in that section.

Some beaches go further. Wrightsville Beach, about 40 minutes north of Carolina Beach, supplements lifeguard presence with 16 rescue tube stations at the busiest access points. It is among several beaches along the North Carolina coast — including North Topsail Beach, Emerald Isle, Ocean Isle Beach, Oak Island and Carolina Beach — that have rescue tubes at some beach access points. The devices are meant to provide flotation for beachgoers to use or throw to a distressed swimmer when guards aren’t available or it’s after hours, said Sam Profitt, Wrightsville Beach ocean rescue director.

He stresses that their primary safety system in summer is still the lifeguards in the stands. 

Carolina and Wrightsville beaches are part of a select group of North Carolina beaches that have United States Lifesaving Association-certified lifeguards. 

“There are certainly plenty of non-USLA certified lifeguard agencies out there, and that doesn’t make them bad,” Gill said. “The good thing about USLA certification is there is a base of understanding of what each of those lifeguards has been through, training-wise, and their requirements, and what those agencies have to provide for the people that are coming to those beaches.” Lifeguards must complete 69 hours of training, including search and rescue, CPR and first aid, to become certified. Recertification in CPR and first aid is required every two years, and rescue training is completed annually.

‘Know before you go’

While some North Carolina beaches are equipped with lifeguards and some have additional safety tools like the rescue tubes, experts say there are things that beachgoers can do to help keep themselves safe. 

“There’s a saying, and it’s called: ‘Know Before You Go’ — know your personal limitations, your swimming ability, what a rip current is and how often to check the weather forecast,” Kelly said. 

“If you’re not that good of a swimmer or that confident in the water, always, always try to swim near a lifeguard. Just don’t overdo it, be very aware of your surroundings and flag colors.” He added, “If you get to the beach and you need information, find a lifeguard, walk up to them and ask them. That’s what they’re there for.”

Beach warning flags use a standardized color system recognized by the United States Lifesaving Association. A yellow flag indicates a medium hazard with moderate surf and currents present, and weak swimmers are discouraged from entering. A red flag signals a high hazard with rough conditions such as strong surf and currents, and all swimmers are discouraged from entering the water. A double red flag means the water is closed to the public. A complete list of beach warning flags is online at usla.org.

With these safety tips in mind, lifeguards will be the final line of defense during the busiest beach-going weekend of the season.

“My best to all the lifeguards out there working really hard for everyone this weekend,” Gill said.

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