Don’t Swim in the Sea During Bad Weather

People not heeding police warnings and swimming in dangerous areas end up drowning

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Dubai: Residents ignoring warnings and choosing to swim in the sea during bad weather is the most common reason for drowning incidents in Dubai, police said.

Swimming in areas marked out of bounds by authorities because of inherent dangers also contributes to fatalities. \ Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Atiq Burqibah, Deputy Director of the Search and Rescue Department at the General Directorate of Transport and Rescue at Dubai Police, said people should not take red flags and other warnings of bad weather lightly.

“Ninety to 95 per cent of drowning cases happen during bad weather conditions.” Lt Col Burqibah said.

Bad weather conditions create strong water currents known as riptides, which can cause one to drown.

The department covers all beaches and water bodies in Dubai that are not part of a park or a hotel, as these are governed by different bodies, but they provide assistance to them when needed.

Lt Col Burqibah said. said the department provides 24/7 patrols on all Dubai beaches, whether they are swim or no swim zones. They also have seven station points across Dubai.

The maximum response time for the department this year is six minutes, which is two minutes down from last year, he said. “However, most of the time the team gets there between one to two minutes of receiving a call.”

“Most drowning incidents take place at Burj Al Arab beach area because a large number of people go there,” he said.

“What many people don’t know, or forget, is that the sea in Dubai does not keep getting deeper gradually. Sometimes it gets deep suddenly as the seafloor isn’t equal, and people lose their footing,” Lt Col Burqibah said, adding that this can cause people who can’t swim to drown or those who can swim sometimes to panic and drown.

He said that people should not panic, as this makes the situation worse for them.

“Never fight a strong water current, let it pull you and once it becomes weak, swim further to the side to get away from where the current was and then you can swim back to the shore.” Whirlpools are not a common occurrence in UAE waters, Lt. Col Burqaibah said, adding that they can form in areas were a there is a solid object such as rocks or poles. “They can form near wave-breakers and so swimming there should be avoided.”

If one is caught in a whirlpool, one should take a deep breath, relax and let the whirlpool pull him down where it gets weaker. Once it is weak enough, one can swim out of it and back to the surface.

When I was twelve, living in the Philippines, a Typhoon hit us, and the next day me and a friend went down to where the waves would come straight in and hit this point in the image below (vertical arrow). If you got the tide just right, the incoming waves would come in, smash against a large stone seawall, then set up a reflexive wave going back out. (you had to get the tide right, otherwise there would be a small beach exposed in front of the wall which would ruin the effect.)

On this day, we were sure we could get a great ride. To hit it right, you had to time it like a surfer looking for the right wave, and tread water until the right wave went in. I recall you had to swim out about twenty or thirty yards away from the seawall. When the time was right, you would swim like hell to a spot where the reflexive wave going back out would collide with an incoming wave, and the result would rocket you about 10 or 15 feet into the air!

It was one HELL of a ride, but it was largely a matter of luck, and sometimes when you went out, you might only hit it one or two times in a few hours of trying. On this day, I went so high it scared the crap out of me, but that wasn't the scariest part.

There were big, rolling waves, and the tide was allowing a thin strip of the beach to show in front of the seawall, which meant it was no good anymore. As I was coming in, I tried to body surf in, and a wave got me. It ground me into the gritty sand and wouldn't let go. I began to feel the edge of panic, when I finally got free and popped up, and the next wave grabbed me and did the same thing.

I felt completely helpless, and that scared me. When I came up again, my feet were touching the sand, and I realized my bathing suit had been ripped right off of me. I had no swimming trunks!

To a twelve year old boy, the concept of walking out of the water onto the beach with no bathing suit was daunting, and I was yelling at my friend that my suit was gone, and with a big grin on the thin beach, he was holding them up in his hand above his head! I waded in and he taunted me with them for a few seconds, then waded out and handed them to me.

When I got ashore, there was a large hole in the seat of the trunks, and I had a two inch bleeding, deep strawberry on my right buttock!

I have always relied on my sage guru and adviser in such matters, Roger Miller:

"You c'aint roller skate in a buffalo herd...
~and~
You c'aint take a shower in a parakeet cage."

(We hold these truths to be self-evident.)

Of course they probably don't allow his music to be played in Dubai.

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