http://www.wral.com/emerald-isle-police-report-more-than-80-rip-tide-incidents-4-deaths-in-10-days/16772521/

Why do people have to have this "we came all the way to the beach, we aren't missing out on swimming in the ocean" mentality. There are clearly warnings, but they insist on putting emergency personnel in danger with their stupidity. Why doesn't the governor declare a state of emergency to keep people out? They do it when it snows basically saying if you go out we won't rescue you.

6/20/2017 10:42:05 AM

I wonder why the rip tides are so bad there this year? I've been to Topsail twice so far and haven't really seen any riptides.

6/20/2017 10:45:02 AM

Quote :

"Why doesn't the governor declare a state of emergency to keep people out? "

Because beach communities need a steady stream of doofuses spending their paychecks at Wings in order to continue functioning.

[Edited on June 20, 2017 at 11:21 AM. Reason : Haven't you seen JAWS? Just replace man eating sharks with riptides]

6/20/2017 11:20:44 AM

BECAUSE JERBS.

GO TRUMP
USA #1
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
#FAKENEWS

6/20/2017 11:28:19 AM

FAKENEWS!!!!


It i just a libtard conspiracy to keep jobs away!!!

6/20/2017 11:29:36 AM

I never thought the rip tide at Emerald Isle was bad compared to all of the beaches north of Hatteras.

6/20/2017 11:37:53 AM

I wonder if these people tried swimming horizontally with the beach to get out of it. Everyone says that works..not sure how they know that though or if it even does. Swimming against it just tires you out.

6/20/2017 11:43:15 AM

^I had to do that once after getting momentarily paralyzed after getting crossed up on a wave after a hurricane. It was working but had to get dragged up the beach because I couldn't move my legs. It worked though

6/20/2017 11:49:53 AM

I'm sure people panic and forget about swimming perpendicular to the rip current.

6/20/2017 12:06:02 PM

Dumb fucking yankees don't know to do that in the first place

6/20/2017 12:13:44 PM

Quote :

"I'm sure people panic and forget about swimming perpendicular to the rip current."

It is a bit more complicated than that. For one, swimming in the ocean over a significant distance is a much more difficult task than people give it credit for. Most tourists, or even locals for that matter, think that just because they can wade around in a pool on a sunny day that they can handle the ocean, and swimming just ain't that easy. The second complication is that if you do get caught in that thing, it is gonna feel like somebody on a boat has a lasso around you and is pulling you out into the deep. Most people will try to swim sideways, but that shore is still gonna fade away quickly and fatigue starts to set in before you really clear it.

The obvious solution, aside from shutting the beach down, is to post life guards on jet ski duty deeper in the ocean, off of the surf, so that they can spot the rip tide and warn people in advance. At the very least, you have somebody that can potentially rescue people from a more accessible area.

Increased life guard presence in general should help.

I honestly feel that people treat a rip tide as some myth that can't be all that it is worked up to be.



[Edited on June 20, 2017 at 4:37 PM. Reason : k]

6/20/2017 4:23:46 PM

^ This!

6/20/2017 5:01:44 PM

Anyone who has been a lifeguard at the beach before -- is protocol just to swim out to them? Wouldn't that cause you to get caught in it too and in turn be pulled out to the deeper part? I guess most lifeguards have that floaty red thing so if that happens they can just chill out until a boat comes.

6/20/2017 5:30:51 PM

Quote :

" ...it is gonna feel like somebody on a boat has a lasso around you and is pulling you out into the deep. "

I've never once felt a rip current exert a pulling sensation. Undertow maybe but not rip currents.

6/20/2017 7:01:39 PM

I got caught in one as a kid that definitely felt like a strong pulling sensation.

6/21/2017 12:42:08 AM

Yeah, they build them up to be this mythical thing, so I don't know if I've ever really been in one.

But I've definitely just been trapped in the ocean. I couldn't swim out of it or against it. You're just kinda stuck out there, treading water and going wherever it takes you.

One time was a close call. I'd been in the ocean for hours with the last hour being sort of in that trapped place. At one point, I did get tired enough where my head slipped under, and I gulped water when I was trying to breathe air. A man was keeping an eye on me and eventually swam out to help. So in addition to trying not to drown, I also had to muster the energy to slap him away and try to tell him I was fine. Fortunately, my (lifeguard) friend came out, convinced the guy I was all good, and from a distance, she coached me out of it.

We've always joked that I'm such a lazy, dumb swimmer and whatnot. But I was pretty close to a fairly classic drowning.

6/21/2017 2:32:46 AM

I've always told myself that I would try to float as much as possible, to take advantage of the added buoyancy in the salt water, if ever caught where I couldn't get back in. I have no idea if it would work.

Side note. I'm on the south facing beaches now and, while rough, haven't felt any unusual currents. But I could see it wearing someone out and then find themselves in trouble.

6/21/2017 2:53:46 AM

*admits to struggling in the ocean*
*head goes under*
*breathes in and chokes on water*
*considers good samaritan, who comes to rescue, to be a creeper*

6/21/2017 9:07:56 AM

Quote :

"Everyone says that works..not sure how they know that though or if it even does. "

it works.

6/21/2017 9:47:11 AM

Quote :

"I've never once felt a rip current exert a pulling sensation."

Then you've never been in one.

6/21/2017 11:02:46 AM

Quote :

"Dumb fucking yankees don't know to do that in the first place"

the fuck? Most "yankees" grew up going to the beach all the time.

Swimming parallel works, but it is a bit freaky. Thankfully I'm a strong swimmer so I've never been overly concerned.

6/21/2017 2:40:05 PM

some comments in this thread are

6/21/2017 2:56:49 PM

i've been in one. It was kind of scary, luckily i was on a surfboard so i was using that to stay afloat. But definitely felt panicky when i tried, at first, to kick and paddle against it. actually had to get pulled in by friend.

6/21/2017 3:36:22 PM

Quote :

"*admits to struggling in the ocean* *head goes under* *breathes in and chokes on water* *considers good samaritan, who comes to rescue, to be a creeper* "

He was definitely a good person, and I'm glad those people are at the beach, keeping an eye out while the rest of us drink too much and talk about how much we looooooove the ocean. When I shouted that I was going "back to the womb," and then raced into the water, he probably knew I was gonna need some help eventually.

But I didn't want a stranger touching me, and I wasn't ready to officially use up my ocean rescue card yet. If I'd let him drag me to shore, it would have been a whole thing that required reflection and shit.

6/21/2017 3:40:31 PM

^methinks you still require that reflection

6/21/2017 3:42:33 PM

How's that?

6/21/2017 4:10:28 PM

Plus if you let him rescue you, you are required by law to bang him.

6/21/2017 4:14:21 PM

Right there on the beach in front of God and everyone.

6/21/2017 4:32:09 PM

them's the rules

6/21/2017 5:08:04 PM

Note to self: rescue Bridget from the ocean.


also, never ever attempt to rescue bigman.

6/21/2017 6:56:36 PM

Quote :

"luckily i was on a surfboard so i was using that to stay afloat."

Use them to get out past the breakers. Set-free paddling.

6/21/2017 11:12:02 PM

6/21/2017 11:19:17 PM

i almost drowned as a child once in a pond, still can't swim to this day. Strangely, i'm not afraid of water as long as I have a flotation device with me, I just can't swim...

6/22/2017 1:32:31 AM

MORAN WEARS FLOATIES!!!

6/22/2017 7:02:37 AM

^^can't swim or refuse to learn to swim?

6/22/2017 11:52:53 AM

If you are thinking about getting a place at the beach I would strongly advise only considering those with swimming pools. The shark attacks and rip currents are making parents strongly prefer a swimming pool be available when on vacation.

6/22/2017 11:56:19 AM

Quote :

"I wonder why the rip tides are so bad there this year?"

[quote]

I live here...the shape of the beach is different this year. It used to slope gently from dune to water. Now, there is a steep-ish slop about half way and I kind of wonder if this causes the water to pile up and then rip back down the slope causing the strong currents. I've been here nearly 10 years and it has never felt like this. Just sitting near the edge of the breakers in 6" of water you feel a real strong pull when it runs back out after certain waves.

6/22/2017 9:21:32 PM

That's not how riptides work. And if you're feeling pulled out after a wave, that's not a riptide at all.

6/22/2017 9:29:24 PM

How do riptides work then asshole.

6/22/2017 10:43:38 PM

Neap tides are weak. Spring tides are strong. It sounds like you were experiencing an especially strong spring tide.

After that, it gets confusing, like the difference between a riptide and a rip current. If anybody cares: http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/glossary.shtml

Still, a lot of what we're describing is what makes the ocean so much fun: getting pulled down and out and bobbing up, figuring out your timing and which way to dive and with what force to make the ocean pop you back out with your hair air all perfect instead of stuck to your face. And, if you wanna stay in where your feet can touch, you should dig your tootsies in there and let the ocean exfoliate them. It's the best.

Anyway, all these current and tide thingies are way fun until you get tired and/or caught off guard. But, usually, you just swim parallel to the shore until you find a place where you can comfortably get back in.

6/22/2017 11:26:30 PM

Or you just ride the waves wherever the ocean takes you.

6/23/2017 8:09:56 AM

It does seem weird that there is a lot more riptides. Although the forecast is saying that there should be less in the next coming days.
I've seen riptides, but I've never been stuck in one.

I just feel like 1) if you don't know what to look for, 2) you don't know what to do if you get in one, and 3) can't tread water for an extended period of time then you should stay out of the water. It doesn't matter if there is a high risk of rip currents or not. Just because there is a low risk, doesn't mean that you won't end up in one.

If you don't respect the ocean, then the ocean will kill you.

[Edited on June 23, 2017 at 9:58 AM. Reason : ]

6/23/2017 9:57:02 AM