300-plus water rescues finish busy week for lifeguards from Ocean City to Rehoboth Beach

Taylor Goebel | The Daily Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: Tips for a safe summer visit to Bethany Beach, Delaware Bethany Beach lifeguard captain Joe Donnelly talks about common dangers to watch out for on the beach, including rip currents and heat.

The storm may have passed, but remnants from post-tropical-cyclone Chris lingered over the weekend, with increased rescue efforts along the coast.

In Ocean City, the beach patrol saw 123 water rescues Friday and 142 Saturday. That number declined sharply to 59 Sunday after rip currents calmed down, according to Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin.

Arbin says when people are caught in a rip current, lifeguards will direct them to swim sideways. If that doesn't work, the lifeguard will go out with a hand buoy to rescue them before panic sets in.

Arbin tells people to remember RIP when stuck in a rip current.

"R" means relax. "I" stands for "I need help." And "P" is to swim parallel.

"A rip current is not much wider than a backyard pool," he said. "So, if a person turns to the side and swims, in a few strokes they are out of the rip current."

Related: Beach injuries: Lifeguards share how to stay on the beach, out of the ER

In most cases, Ocean City won't close its beaches or impose restrictions unless there are incredibly strong currents — "really, only when we have a hurricane baring down on us," Arbin said.

Part of Ocean City's mission is to "keep people educated while allowing them to have a good time at the beach," he added.

Watch: How to survive a rip current Tourists and locals, pay attention. This could save your life.

In Rehoboth Beach, there were about 80 water rescues last week into the weekend, according to Capt. Kent Buckson.

"Any time you get a lot of sustained, heavy wind, that's going to generate waves," Buckson said. "And that creates rip currents."

It's the height of summer and the crowds are heavy, Buckson said, but the high number of rescues isn't typical in July, a month of hot, calm days when the surf is usually flat.

Rehoboth Beach will close its beaches when difficult surf conditions arise, according to Buckson. During the July 7-8 weekend, the beach was closed for that reason, and then the water was restricted to waste-deep access the following week, he added.

"When we can't do our job effectively and are being stretched thin, then we're going to close the water to keep everyone safe," Buckson said.

The rip currents didn't affect Bethany Beach as intensely: the resort area had typical summer days over the weekend, with an average of three to 10 rescues daily, according to Beach Patrol Capt. Joe Donnelly.

Assateague Island faced a "significant" number of rip current-related rescues on Saturday alone, with 25 on the Maryland end and another four in Virginia, according to Chief National Park Service Lifeguard Jeff Clark.

"That's one-third of the yearly average number of rescues for both districts combined," he said in a statement, "but it happened in one day."

Heavy crowds, strong surf, variable surf zone topography, a low tide at midday and hot weather all contributed to the high number of rip currents, Clark added.

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Staff reporter Gray Hughes contributed to this report.