Erosion from Hurricanes Ian, Nicole producing dangerous rip currents at Central Florida Beaches

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — It’s been a busy few days for lifeguards on Volusia County Beaches with hundreds of people being rescued from the ocean over the holiday weekend.

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Volusia County Beach Patrol officials are warning people to prepare for a high risk of dangerous rip currents throughout the summer.

A man and a teen are currently in critical condition after nearly drowning in Daytona Beach on Memorial Day. It happened around 8:30 p.m. Monday just off the Main Street Pier.

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There were 300 other rescues made by Volusia County Beach Safety over the  weekend, with more than 200 of those occurring on Monday alone.

Beach safety officials expect that trend to continue as last year’s hurricanes are impacting conditions on the coast today.

“I think that’s going to be the story of the summer,” Volusia Beach Safety Deputy Chief Aaron Jenkins said.

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According to Jenkins, destruction to the dunes and coastal erosion are creating more rip currents than usual.

“Those things are not normal,” Jenkins said. “Everything is kind of rebuilding, kind of funky, kind of different…It’s creating a lot of holes in the sand bar, and when you get holes in the sand bar, you get rip currents.”

The rough surf warnings from beach safety officials paired with hundreds of rescues over the weekend have kept many beach-goers closer to the shore.

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Beach Safety officials are urging people to swim in front of staffed lifeguard towers as much as possible.

“Stay where you can firmly touch bottom,” Jenkins advised. “If you go all the way to where you’re in shoulder-high water, it only takes a step and you’re overhead.”

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