Page 43 - Rip Current News Today

That came here for their vacation. theyre happy to hear pretty much arthur has whipped out here. its been moving fast, tracking 24 miles per hour, right out of the yeah but it still leaves one huge problem. it is going to be hot today. look at all the people lining the coast. what theyre thinking is theyre going to go ahead and go back into this ocean as soon as the sun breaks and thats the biggest concern well have from hear moving forward. that rip current danger is still incredibly high. what...

>> reporter: jason cayhill survived the terrifying ordeal. >> it was like nothing i felt before. and im a pretty strong guy. >> reporter: today, hes talking to his son about safety. rip currents pull the swimmer away from the shore, not under water. survival may depend on going against your natural instinct, swimming directly back to the shore is nearly impossible. the danger occurs when a swimmer can no longer keep themselves afloat, either from fear, exhaustion or lack of skill. anyone can get...

>> today hes talking to his son about safety. rip currents pull the swimmer away from the shore, not under water. survival may depend on going against your natural instinct. swimming directly back to the shore is nearly impossible. the danger occurs when a swimmer can no longer keep themselves afloat, either from fear, exhaustion or lack of skill. anyone can get caught in them. andrew healy has been a lifeguard for 44 years. so you yourself have been stuck in them? >> sure. no lifeguard has ever...

60 to 70 miles per hour. some rains coming in sideways and those howling, howling powerful winds. one thing that is still hanging around that officials are cautioning people about is the water out here. you can still see that its still churning here behind me. and they say that under that foaming wave, there is a dangerous rip current. and they are really urging people not to go swimming out in that water although weve seen people out there. a couple surfers who are not ready to resist those wav...

Have conditions of the rip currents taking all that surge out, in these underwater rivers. theyre like whitewater rapids under the water you cant see. >> thats right, ashleigh. it could be very dangerous. theyre warning people that youre going to have rip current situations, perhaps for days, out here. so to try to stay out of the water. look, were in nags head, looking out over the sound. try to illustrate some of the stuff chad was talking about. this water came all the way in and pushed out c...

Coloration of the water. >> reporter: to give you a better visual when scientists study the movement of the ocean they pour a harmless dye into it. spotting a rip current is half the battle. in case you get caught in one well show you a few tips. >> ready to get in the water? >> sounds good. lets go. >> reporter: now getting into the water was a little tough on this strong surf day but once we got out there i learned the top three tips. >> first tip and most important is you always want to remai...

>> were most concerned about flooding inland and storm surges in our sounds and rivers. >> reporter: governor pat mccrory says rescue and emergency crews are ready to assess damage and begin the cleanup effort. remember now, arthur has weakened to that category 1 hurricane, and its picked up speed so its bolting out of here quickly to the northeast at about 23 miles per hour, so when you look to the sky behind us, starting to see a little bit of a clearing here and there. of course the gusts are...

Against instinct to swim either back out to sea or even sideways from the current. >> thats right. your immediate reaction is to try to get back to the beach as quick as possible. that would take you directly against this narrow jet of water. and typically they are pretty narrow. so the thing to do is, instead of trying to swim directly back to the beach, swim parallel to shore or along shore so you can get out of that narrow jet. and then you should be able to swim into the beach. but just like...

People are going to come out and walk. we already see some people when we look down the beach here. you see a few people out taking a peek, looking to see what it looks like out here. wind is still blowing occasionally, sand is stinging, but that seems inviting to a lot of people. they dont usually see such great ferocious waves. its dangerous because of the rip currents which you dont see underneath. as this water hits my feet, its cold. its about 10 degrees colder than it was yesterday. and th...

Unseen just offshore. the water piles up here along the shore and it has to find a way out. that way out is a rip current. that rip current can happen anywhere along an east coast or west coast beach for that matter, even across the gulf of mexico. here are the sandbars. the water comes across the sandbars and feeds into the area where you are swimming, right through here. as the sandbar breaks, you are getting erosion here. the water wants to go out all of a sudden. that water goes out all at t...