Nearly two weeks after a man saved his daughter in the surf off North Captiva Island only to fall victim to a rip current, new signs warn potential beach-goers about the hazards.

The death of Thomas Zakrewski, 46, of Georgia, was ruled to have resulted from being caught in a rip current; it was Florida's 13th such fatality this year.

A family of adults and children was playing in the surf, rescue officials said, when they became surrounded by tide forces that trapped them.

Four members of the family escaped. The fifth, Zakrewski, helped rescue his 8-year-old daughter, but the outgoing riptide then swept him away.

More:LCSO identifies man who drowned after saving daughter from rip current off Upper Captiva

Thursday, the Upper Captiva Fire District installed signs specifically warning of the dangers of strong currents.

Assistant Fire Chief Craig Denison said the signs were placed on the beach around the sandbar area where the riptide claimed the man's life.

Signs are already on Turner Beach on Captiva Island, to the south of Upper Captiva.

Winds were whipping waves off Turner and Blind Pass Thursday and some beachgoers said they could feel the pull of rip currents.

"It was rougher than expected," Susannah Carver of Ashville, N.C., said about the conditions at Turner. She said the family was staying on Marco Island but wanted to come to Captiva to enjoy the surf.

She said her daughter Jorden, 13, had felt some tugging as she swam just offshore, and the lanky teen confirmed she had been a bit scared by the feeling.

This beach, too, experienced a near-drowning about three weeks ago when Tia Gambrel-Irizarry, 37, was swimming with family June 28 and was pulled further offshore by the current.

More:Dead after rip current grabs her in Gulf, Lehigh Acres woman saved by emergency workers

Gambrel-Irizarry, of Lehigh Acre actually drowned but was rescued and resuscitated by the Lee County Sheriff's Office marine patrol and Sanibel Fire and Rescue personnel.

She is continuing to recover at home.

According to the National Weather Service, there have been 28 deaths across the U.S. this year. Twelve in Florida surf zones, were attributed to rip currents.

The victims in the 12 Florida deaths ranged in age from 14 to 71.

More:South Carolina man who drowned off Captiva Island had been seen earlier on beach

Most have happened off beaches in Florida's Panhandle with four off Panama City Beach (three in June alone) and three off Destin beaches. Four rip current-related drownings happened on the state's east coast, from Daytona to New Smyrna, and one on Madeira Beach near St. Petersburg.

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