By MADDY VITALE
The Ocean City Beach Patrol is working with a limited number of lifeguards due to many of them going back to school or returning to their full-time jobs this time of year. To add to the difficulty, Hurricanes Idalia and Franklin have been creating rip currents and dangerous surf.
But Ocean City Beach Patrol Director Allan Karas and the lifeguards have been working hard to keep beachgoers safe.
“We monitor the conditions day by day, hour by hour, and determine how far we let people in the water and whether we let people in or not,” Karas said in an interview Thursday at the beach patrol’s First Street headquarters.
Floridians experienced a Category 3 hurricane from Idalia. After that, the storm went through Georgia and to the Carolinas, downing powerlines, unleashing strong winds and producing heavy of rain before heading out to sea Thursday.
Although the hurricanes weren’t a direct threat to the New Jersey coast, they have churned up treacherous surf and rip currents at the shore in their wake.
Hurricane Franklin was moving over the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, creating a steady stream of rip currents through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
For the Ocean City Beach Patrol, it meant giving bathers a small slice of area to swim in between designated green flags, Karas explained.
“The past two days, we’ve allowed people in, but kept people close. Yesterday was horrible, with rain early on,” Karas said. “For several hours, we had nothing going on. We kept the flags narrow and kept them in and the water wasn’t as bad.”
The water temperature was 73 on Thursday for those who decided to venture into the strong surf, while the air temp was a brisk 67 degrees, Karas said.
A mother watched closely as her children waded in the surf at First Street beach, as lifeguards watched nearby.
Gina and Nick Donato, of Lansdale, Pa., and their infant and 3-year-old daughter, along with Nick’s sister, Michelle Bruns, of Chalfont, Pa., and her daughters, Liana, 9, and 7-year-old Myla, didn’t mind the whipping winds or rough surf.
The family enjoyed playing games and sitting by an Ocean City lifeguard boat on First Street beach.
In fact, they kind of liked the excitement of it all.
“There is no bad day at the beach,” Nick Donato said with a smile.
The family was on vacation for a few days. And while the sun wasn’t out and the surf was rough, the kids still had fun, mostly playing games on the beach.
“This is our last summer fling until the kids go back to school,” Bruns noted.
Myla Bruns said before going back to play in the sand, “I really like the ocean and watching the waves.”
Heading into Labor Day Weekend, the unofficial end to the summer season, rough surf is expected to continue to be a possibility.
Ocean City Beach Patrol Lt. Matt DiMarino and lifeguards Claudia Booth and Carly Rossiter kept close watch of the few swimmers who splashed in the water Thursday.
DiMarino noted that the westerly winds the day before made for a nice afternoon, after the morning rains cleared.
“It was one of the best beach days because of the westerly wind,” he said.
Rossiter said that on Thursday, the guards had one main job.
“We are just making sure to keep everyone in the shallow water,” she said.
While the three were busy on guard at the First Street beach, Karas pointed out that during the height of this summer there was a total of 186 personnel, including a few EMTs.
“We are probably down to 60 staff working now, including EMTs and lifeguards,” Karas said of the current status.
And over the past few days he said the guards have been doing an excellent job. Karas added that the safety protocol is also working.
“We’ve had surprisingly few rescues,” he emphasized about the past few days. “It is probably because it is not as rough and bad as it was predicted, and also because of the preventative measures we have taken.”
And rough surf isn’t a bad thing for some, specifically surfers.
“Surfers are having a great time because the waves really got big,” Karas noted. “The waves didn’t get big for as long as they thought, but there were a couple good times to surf over the past couple of days.”
The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards beaches from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
The following beaches will be guarded through Labor Day Weekend:
- Surf Road
- North Street
- St. Charles Place
- Brighton Place
- 8th Street (extended hours to 7 p.m.)
- 9th Street (extended hours to 7 p.m.)
- 10th Street
- 11th Street
- 12th Street (extended hours to 7 p.m.)
- 18th Street
- 24th Street
- 30th Street
- 34th Street (extended hours to 7 p.m.)
- 39th Street
- 50th Street
- 58th Street
After-hours guarding will stop after Monday. Then there will be six guarded beaches, 8th, 9th, 12th, 34th, 58th and St. Charles Place.
The OCBP anticipates closing all guarded beaches down for the season on Sunday, Sept. 17.
The Ocean City Beach Patrol strongly urges bathers to swim only at guarded beaches. For questions, email OCBP@ocnj.us or call 609-525-9200.
