Los Angeles County lifeguards are warning beach goers to expect risky rip currents all along L.A. County beaches through Friday as storms head into the region.
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Area lifeguards are closely monitoring local waters and urging beachgoers to take safety precautions after strong rip currents led to a dramatic surge in ocean rescues this week.
Los Angeles County Fire Dept. lifeguards respond aid swimmers caught in a fast-moving current, known as a “blitz”, at Venice Beach on Tuesday. Rescue boats from Baywatch Santa Monica and Baywatch Del Rey conducted a “blitz” rescue at Venice Beach, pulling as many as 18 people from the water at the same time in a large-scale operation. “The crowds at the beach, the rip current, the swell”.
Brown, discolored water is one of the signs of a powerful rip current. Rip currents form at breaks in sand bars and near jetties and piers, and can easily catch swimmers and surfers off guard.
“They get farther and farther out and then they realize they’re in trouble and wondering how they’re going to get out”, she said.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people along the Los Angeles County coastline needed rescuing, with the L.A. County Fire Department Lifeguard Division reporting 408 rescues just on that day.
Rip currents can have an average speed of 1 to 2 feet per second, the Times notes, and they “flow away from the shore at surf beaches”.
“Once you’re out of the current, then you can slowly work your way in or float and wait for help”, Lester said.
The lifeguards have made 24 rescues in 48 hours and a total of 79 rescues this year. About 80 percent of the rescues typically involved swimmers stuck in rip currents, Haskett said.
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Tuesday’s rescues at Hampton Beach were the first since late June, Bassett said.
