Belmar mayor says 35 rescued from dangerous surf

Hot temperatures and dangerous surf conditions made for a potentially deadly mix over the weekend, where lifeguards and first responders spent days pulling distressed swimmers from the roiling water along the Jersey Shore.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty said lifeguards, police, water rescue staff and U.S. Coast Guard personnel had pulled 35 people from the water here between Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, two lifeguards and an off-duty police officer swam to the aid of two distressed swimmers off the borough's Fourth Avenue Beach until a Coast Guard vessel could pull all five from the water. Similar rescues were reported across the Jersey Shore over the warm weekend.

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Throughout the region, first responders were diving into the ocean or using boats to pull out swimmers who failed to heed warnings about dangerous rip currents.

"Day after day we’ve been talking about this," said Walter Drag, a meteorologist at the Mount Holly Station of the National Weather Service. "Admire the beaches. Love the seashore. Pick the shells, but stay out of the water, or (go in) no more than ankle deep.”

Officials with Manasquan's Office of Emergency Management said on Twitter that the borough's Fire Rescue boat helped two more people Sunday afternoon.

"Water continues to be extremely hazardous," Manasquan officials wrote on Twitter. "Multiple rescue(s) in progress on area beaches." Why is the water dangerous? Watch the video above to find out.

There were additional reports of water rescues in Avon, Long Branch and Asbury Park. In Asbury Park, a lifeguard was seen resuscitating a person on a jetty near Convention Hall. Police did not immediately release details.

Drag said eight deaths so far this summer at the Jersey Shore have been tied to rip currents. Mixes of tropical storm swells and sandbars can make rip currents more likely to occur, he said.

“It is predictable and preventable," he said.

Drag urged all beachgoers to stay out of the water through the end of September because of storm swells and to stay off the jetties as well.

Doherty said he was frustrated that Belmar police were ordering swimmers out of the ocean, but some parents would tell their children they could go back into the surf. The mayor announced on Friday that borough beaches would be closed to swimming.

“We knew going into it (the weekend) that it was going to be dangerous, and far too dangerous for people to go into (the ocean)," he said. "Most everyone who came and sat on the beach … never went in the water. It’s just a very small few who completely ignored all the warnings."

Doherty said that people who ignore the warnings put not only their own lives at risk, but the lives of their rescuers.

"I am starting to become disillusioned with people not paying attention to the municipal officials, to the media, to the National Weather Service, and taking a huge risk," he said.

Over the past week, swells of Hurricane Jose had contributed to dangerous rip currents along the Jersey Shore. On Saturday, the first swells of Hurricane Maria also started impacting the shore, said Drag, of the National Weather Service.

The surf would only get more dangerous over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, he said.

"People are aching to get out there and cool down, we know that. But to tell you the truth, it’s just not worth the risk," said Drag. "As wonderful as it looks and as inviting as it looks, it’s very dangerous at this time without lifeguards present."

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Amanda Oglesby: 732-557-5701; aoglesby@GannettNJ.com