How Are Rip Tides Dangerous in Hurricanes?

The United States Lifesaving Association estimates approximately 100 Americans die annually after being swept out to sea by rip tides, and hurricanes hundreds of miles away from shore can create rip tides. Rip tides are usually only 100 feet wide at most, but they can flow hundreds of feet into the ocean. Rip tide currents are too powerful for even the strongest swimmers to overcome, but many panic when caught in the current, exhausting themselves and drowning after trying to swim against the current to shore.

How Hurricanes Create Rip Tides

Rip tide formation is often the first sign that a hurricane is due to make landfall. Hurricanes' strong winds create a storm surge that propels increasingly large waves against the shoreline and these waves move the sediment along the sea floor toward the shore to create a sandbar. Eventually, the water pressure from the surge punches a gap in the sandbar, creating a channel that the surging waves flow through. The resulting current from that flow creates the rip tide.

Dangers of Rip Tides

Rip tides are present long before their parent hurricane makes landfall, even in clear, sunny conditions, and they can gain strength and speed without warning. The higher waves accompanying a rip tide can knock a bather in shallow water off her feet, making it easy for the current to drag her out to sea. Once the hurricane reaches land, the resulting rip tides can erode beaches and undermine the foundations of buildings and highways along the coast.

Identifying a Rip Tide

If you're not a frequent beach-goer, the signs of a rip tide won't be obvious, but they do leave visual clues. A stream of churning water flowing through the surf is one warning sign, and you might also notice the resulting disruption in the pattern of the waves breaking against the shore. A stream of sea foam and debris flowing out to sea indicates a rip tide's presence and the water within a rip tide has a noticeably different shade than that of the surrounding water.

Surviving a Rip Tide

If you've heard predictions of strong storms or spot red flags flying at your beach, don't go swimming, no matter how mild the weather seems. If you're caught in a rip tide, don't try to fight the current by swimming directly to shore. Shout and get a life guard's attention if possible. Swim parallel to the beach --- you won't meet heavy resistance and you'll only have 100 feet to swim at the most before you're free from the current. Once you're out of the rip tide, swim away from it at an angle, heading back towards shore.

References

• National Weather Service: Rip Current Safety: Rip Current Science: Where and Why Rip Currents Form
• University of Illinois: The Weather World 2010 Project: RipTides: A Danger to Swimmers
• Marine Waypoints: Rip Tides - They Will Get You Every Time
• National Weather Service: National Hurricane Center: Storm Surge Overview
• "Seacoast Online": Hurricane Season Already Stirs Up Rip Current Concerns

Resources

• NYS Office of Emergency Management: Hurricane Safety Tips