- At least six people have died in rip currents over two days.
- All six victims were visitors to Florida.
- The parents of six children were among the victims.
“It’s just too dangerous to swim right now.” That was the warning Sunday from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida after announcing double red flag warnings and closing the water to swimmers.
Over the span of two days, at least six people were killed in rip currents along Florida beaches.
Three Alabama men who went for an evening swim shortly after arriving at a Florida Panhandle beach were caught in a rip current and died, authorities say.
The young men had traveled to the Panama City Beach area Friday evening with a group of friends and had just checked into their rental and gone for a swim when they went into distress, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in an updated Facebook post Saturday evening.
“The three men were caught in a rip current shortly after entering the water,” the post said.
The sheriff’s office had received the initial emergency call about the distressed swimmers shortly after 8 p.m., officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard and others began rescue efforts. The men were found separately and eventually pronounced dead at area hospitals, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office identified the three as Birmingham, Alabama, residents Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24. Earlier this week, single red flags had been posted at the beach, indicating high-hazard surf and rip current conditions.
A Pennsylvania couple died in a rip current on a Florida beach Thursday while on vacation with their six children.
The incident happened about an hour north of West Palm Beach at Hutchinson Island, a barrier island in Martin County on the Atlantic coast.
Brian Warter, 51, and Erica Wishard, 48, were visiting with their six kids, most of whom are teenagers, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
They were swimming outside of an area farther up the beach that’s protected by lifeguards and where red flags warned of the danger.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that two children were able to break free of the current and tried to help their parents but were forced to swim ashore when conditions became too dangerous.
Also on Thursday, a 19-year-old visiting Panama City Beach from Oklahoma drowned after getting separated from a friend, WJHG.com reported. Fire Chief Ray Morgan said the young man was swimming under single red flag conditions.
Panama City Rescue lifeguards pulled him out of the surf and started CPR but they were unable to save him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
