Florida
Swim South Florida: South Florida family goes high tech to keep children safe in the pool
Florida leads the nation in child drownings. We are surrounded by beautiful bodies of water and its why swim safety is more than a story. It’s a priority for us.
In this “Swim South Florida” story, Local 10′s Nicole Perez has introduced us to a South Florida family who has taken that message to heart and is taking extra steps to keep their children safe around the pool.
David Fridmann believes swim safety is a must for his family of four.
“A father has to teach a trait. He always has to teach them how to swim because it’s a lifesaving skill. Not teaching them yourself or someone else is like murder, God forbid,” said Fridmann.
The Red Cross recommends several water safety tips to prevent drowning. One of them being placing a fence around your pool. Something Fridmann did immediately upon moving into his Miami home.
“That was our first proactive thing to do for making a safer environment. Then later on I found out about these cameras, and I was a little skeptical,” said Fridmann.
Fridmann is referring to his Swam Cam.
Asher Brand, Swam Cam CEO, said the camera is always on, searching the area around the pool for movement and when detected, the alarm will sound in three different areas.
“Swam Cam is a pool alarm system that uses A.I. detection for human movement. We are drowning prevention, as opposed to drowning detection. So, we prevent drowning by detecting human movement before they even get to the water,” said Brand.
Fridmann showed Nicole some of the features which include the keypad, the camera that will record video and allow a person to speak through a speaker to anyone around the pool area and it will also dial 911 if needed.
Fridmann’s skepticism about the camera at first stemmed from not wanting to have false alarms.
“It’s triggered only from here to here, so I reduce false alarms. If I have false alarms, I’m going to take this off and I’m going to leave it to gather dust,” said Fridmann.
Brand said Florida is one of the company’s biggest markets because of the number of pools here.
“The U.S. is the largest pool market in the world. It has about half of the residential pools of the entire worldwide market and unfortunately because of that, the annual drowning deaths are also the highest. More than 400 kids have fatal accidents every single year,” said Brand.
For Fridmann and his family, he said swimming is a part of their daily life and by adding the camera, he feels it’s an extra layer of protection.
“My kids like to go swimming. It’s good exercise for them and we do it often. This is something that I think is very preventable. It’s up to a person to figure out their own children and safety measures if you’re going to have a pool. That’s the responsibility you’re taking,” said Fridmann.
For more information about the Swam Cam, click on this link.
Swim South Florida consists of public service announcements and news stories that will air on Local 10 News and across all our digital platforms.
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Gulf system to bring downpours to Florida
FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber is continuing to watch an area in the Gulf that is expected to bring much-needed rain to Florida this weekend. He said the system will likely drift to the north and northwest and will linger before heading to the northeast. He said to get a tropical depression, or a tropical storm there needs to be winds and a closed low and he is not seeing that in the models yet. Weber is also tracking a system off the coast of Africa that has a 10% chance of developing over the next week. He says it will likely enter a hostile environment and dissipate.
TAMPA, Fla. – Forecasters are tracking a broad disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast that could bring much-needed rain to parched communities this weekend.
Gulf tropical development potential
What we know:
Models continue to indicate there is a potential for an area of low pressure to form over the northeast Gulf off the west coast of Florida over the weekend.
The National Hurricane Center says an area in the Gulf has a 30% chance of tropical development over the next seven days.
Models a shifting away from the forecast of the system moving over the state and off the coast of the Carolinas. Models are now indicating a more likely scenario that it lingers in the Gulf over the weekend and may drift more to the northwest near the Florida Panhandle or Louisiana coast. Early next week conditions look like they will become less conducive and may prohibit much development. Regardless of whether it organizes, the system will bring tropical downpours and increased moisture across Florida and parts of the Southeast.
FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber states we are close to 7.50″ below average on our rainfall in Tampa for the year. A weak area of low pressure or tropical system can be beneficial in helping to make up for the rainfall deficit we have been experiencing. Drought conditions continue over much of the state of Florida. If this system ends up drifting more westward, it would limit the total amount of rainfall and the highest totals would be along the immediate west coast.
Atlantic tropical development potential
A tropical wave southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands remains disorganized.
It is moving west-northwest and, according to the NHC, there is a chance for slow development over the next day or two. By the weekend it is expected to move into less conducive conditions and Saharan dust will begin to affect this wave, limiting its moisture. The time for this system to develop is very limited and will not develop after the weekend.
The NHC is giving it a 10% chance of developing.
Weather factors and storm names
What we don’t know:
Officials cannot yet confirm if the disturbance will overcome environmental hurdles like land interaction, wind shear and dry air. Computer models remain uncertain on how much this system will develop over the waters of the Gulf. If it stays over the warm waters of the Gulf longer, it may give it additional time to organize. Interactions with land and wind shear will likely pose obstacles in further development.
To become a tropical system, it must develop a defined circulation with organized thunderstorms. If it reaches maximum sustained winds of 39 mph, it will become a tropical storm and be named Bertha.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13Meteorologist Jim Weber, the National Hurricane Center tropical weather outlooks, as well as forecast computer models.
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License to blush: A South Florida retiree was taken aback by her new license plate. Her family thinks she should keep it. Would you?
Tiny terror: Florida is racing to stop a fuzzy new invasive pest that can wipe out a field in weeks. It has a taste for everything from grass to corn to sugarcane.
Small miracle: Black skimmer chicks are back on the Sanibel Causeway for the first time in 30 years. Photojournalist Andrew West got a close look at the comeback.
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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – If you felt shaking along Florida’s east coast on Thursday, you’re not alone. But it wasn’t an earthquake.
A strong “experimental explosion” was reported in the waters off Central Florida on Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The USGS website indicates that the explosion happened around 3:04 p.m., roughly 91 miles east-northeast of Ponce Inlet.
Per the agency, the event registered a preliminary magnitude of 3.9. However, few other details about what may have caused the explosion have been provided at this time.
“The recorded ground motions from this event are more typical of an explosion than a naturally occurring earthquake,” the USGS website reads. “The Navy has conducted Full Ship Shock Trials in this region in the past.”
[A LOOK BACK: U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford performs shock trials on an aircraft carrier in 2021]
News 6 has reached out to Navy officials for more information and is awaiting additional details.
Anyone who felt the impact of the explosion is urged to report their experience here.
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