Ga. students heading to Florida for Spring Break need to be aware of deadly rip currents
Officials in charge of keeping people safe at popular beaches in Florida say they’re ready for Spring Breakers, but want them to be prepared as well.
They told Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins that they want to get the word out about deadly rip currents, because every year, Georgia students find themselves in dangerous waters.
“It’s going to sound counter-intuitive, but you have got to relax. You’ve got to use the ocean as your friend at this point,” South Walton Fire Beach Safety Director David Vaughn said.
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They respond to calls west of Panama City, Florida all the way to Miramar Beach, Florida, which is about a 47-mile stretch.
During the March to April Spring Break period in 2023, they responded to more than 170 water rescues.
“It’s terrifying because all you keep thinking is, ‘What if I can’t get out?’” Kennesaw State University student Mikalia Burdge said.
Last Spring Break, 16-year-old Atlanta teen Bryce Brooks died trying to help distressed swimmers in Perdido Key, Florida.
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Burdge says those strong waters are something she can relate to.
“There was a time when I was swimming in the water and I went under and it started rolling me around,” she described.
Officials say swimmers should not fight it and bystanders should not respond. The safest thing to do is relax and ride it out with the waves.
“What kills people is an expenditure of their energy reserve,” Vaughn said.
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