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Of course, if the state makes rip currents "illegal", the local authorities may try to register them to vote and get drivers licenses. But, that is a small price to pay for enhanced safety.
We lose a few people every year from the NYC beaches, usually off the Rockaways (Riis Park and points east). Millions of folks frequent these beaches, many of whom come from overseas, and are unfamiliar with local hazards.
But rip tides can kill ya just as dead.
The beaches don't get closed and the swimmers, including too many parents, ignore the warnings of life guards and posted signs.
Don't ask me for the solution. A goodly proportion of the American populace have algae for brains.....and don't want to be herded like minnows into safer areas.
Sorry for the victims and their families as I regretfully shake my head in stupified wonderment......
Leni
Holy cow, 8 foot waves in Brooklyn? I’m there!
[when I was a kid, I used to get pummeled by waves my size and larger when I would go on a vacation]
The beaches my children and I frequent (central coast of california) have always have rip tide problems.. but you have the combination of people who think all beaches are good for swimming and people not keeping a close eye on their kids..
Personally, the movie “Jaws” and an actual shark problem at said coastline has kept me out of anything past ankle deep for decades now.
How long before it’s blamed on global warming?
btt
Long Beach is about two and a half miles of south-facing beach with jetties spaced every 200 yards or so. The waves usually break left (westerly direction, sometimes pretty hard.
When there is a lot of water moving as on Friday the action creates at least one sea pus between each pair of jetties. All that water coming in has to go back out so it creates a 'river' or a 'cut' that pushes out past the break. At Long Beach the break is usually only seventy yards from the beach, often less.
Experienced ocean swimmers know that you can't fight the pus, you either swim sideways until you are out of it or go with the flow until it weakens outside the break.
The two who drowned at Long Beach were muslim-named guys from a non-beach town. I would wager that they seldom if ever swim anywhere, let alone the ocean. That's just the way it is here.
They got knocked down in water that was less than head high, panicked and drowned. It happens at least twice a season at long Beach and more than that at Rockaway which has the same set-up. The victims are always in two categories...older white guys who have heart attacks or inexperienced black/latino/south-asian/mid-eastern young people with no experience. Every year.
The tides are bad this year at the beaches. I was at Far Rockaway a couple of weeks back and the waves absolutely pummeled us. Really saps the strength without even realizing it.