Rip Current Safety
How to Avoid and Survive Rip Currents:
- A rip current is a narrow, powerful current of water that runs perpendicular to the beach.
- Rip currents pull swimmers away from the beach every year.
- Over 100 people in the United States lose their lives because of them.
- Drowning deaths occur when people try to swim against the current.
- The accompanying chart illustrates how to get out of a rip current if you find yourself in one.
- Do not fight the current; swim parallel to the shore.
- Learn more by visiting the National Weather Service’s Rip Current Safety Web page: www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/