JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — According to the Action News Jax First Alert Weather Team, waves are expected to get even larger by later this evening. Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue tells me they do not recommend people go into the water, but some surfers I spoke with had a different plan.
“Florida very rarely has swells like this, so I just want to take advantage of it while we have it,” said local surfer Ethan Brickley.
Brickley is one of dozens of surfers brave enough to ride Hurricane Erin. The category 2 storm is now north of Jacksonville, as it continues its journey up the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles off the east coast.
Our first alert weather team says the waves could range from 6-10 feet later this evening. They also say life-threatening rip currents are very likely at all local beaches for the next few days.
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“We really recommend people not to go in the water,” said Lt. Maxwell Ervanian, Training & Operations Officer with Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue.
Lt. Ervanian tells me that in addition to high rip currents, another big issue for them is the number of waves breaking in the impact zone.
“You have waves that continue to break one second after another second after another second,” said Lt. Ervanian. “And that’s going to cause issues for our swimmers or surfers, or anyone who is in the impact zone, because now they are not able to catch their breath in between swell periods. They’re not going to be able to navigate through the waves, and that’s where they find themselves in trouble as well.
Despite being hundreds of miles east of Florida’s Atlantic coastline, Hurricane Erin is still making waves of impact on our local beaches.
In St. Johns County, local agencies responded to a boat in distress this morning in the St. Augustine inlet. A spokesperson for St. Johns County Fire and Rescue told Action News Jax that the boat lost engine power, and the St. Augustine Fire Department pulled the boat into safety.
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“We really recommend people not to go in the water,” said Lt. Maxwell Ervanian, Training & Operations Officer at Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue.
We got to ride around on Jacksonville Beach with Lt. Ervanian today. He tells me it’s not just people in the water who need to watch out.
“We’re seeing an increase of our tides more than we usually do,” said Lt. Ervanian. “The tide is increased much further up...closer to the sand dunes.”
Lt. Ervanian tells me, this poses a significant safety risk for beachgoers.
Even if you want to just come and enjoy a walk on the beach to just look at the rough conditions, now there’s a potential for debris on the beach," said Lt. Ervanian. “There’s a potential for you getting hurt or injured, or you even misstepping while walking, and now you fall into the water, and you could get sucked by a rip current or by an undertow.”
Lt. Ervanian stresses that if you ever find yourself in immediate danger on the beach, call 911 immediately.
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