Swimmers Must Be Aware of Rip Currents in Great Lakes
By Ryan Schlehuber

Thursday, July 28, will mark exactly seven years since Travis Brown of Gaylord drowned while swimming with friends off the Lake Michigan Sand Dunes, just 15 minutes northwest of St. Ignace. Strong rip currents swept the 12-year-old boy 500 feet from shore, and the anniversary, say county safety officials, provides a serious reminder that rip currents can ruin a summer day at local beaches.

Rip currents, or channel currents, are strong outward rushes of water that are still being studied by local marine experts. The way to escape these relatively narrow currents, say experts, is to swim parallel to the shoreline, back into calmer water.

Justin Carrick of the Mackinac County Water Safety Review Team, a group supported by federal, state, and local emergency response units and businesses, said rip currents are as predictable as the weather, at best.

“Unfortunately, we are still unsure how often rip currents occur at the sand dunes and how long a person can be trapped in them,” said Mr. Carrick. He said rip currents form in the Great Lakes and in oceans, but are rare or nonexistent in rivers, streams, and small lakes.

The National Weather Service considers rip currents the third deadliest weather-related hazard, after heat waves and floods. They are deadlier than tornadoes, lightning, and hurricanes.

People often associate rip currents with oceans, said Donald Scavia, a professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. He is also the director of Michigan Sea Grant, a joint program between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

“If the beach is set up just right, the water comes up on the shore and it will collect and shoot out in a small underwater river,” said Professor Scavia. “That underwater river is, in fact, the rip current.”

Nationally, more than 100 people die annually from rip currents. According to the Michigan Sea Grant, in the past two years at least 18 people have drowned in the Great Lakes, with experts believing most of these deaths to be a direct result of victims panicking when they were pulled from shore by a rip current.

Rip currents form when waves break near shore, piling up water between breaking waves and the beach. Sandbars, said Mr. Carrick, are where strong rip currents can form, too.

“You can be in knee-deep water and a rip current can knock you right off your feet,” he said. “That’s how strong they can be.”

At the Sand Dunes, there are a couple of factors that can generate a rip current, said Mr. Carrick. One is a gentle breeze that can begin as far away as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and can prolong currents into a long shore current to the Sand Dunes. Another is on-shore winds that can push water away from shore.

“The further you get away from shore, rip currents tend to dissipate quicker,” said Mr. Carrick.

When trapped in a rip current, experts believe a person cannot swim directly to shore and out of the current. The best way to escape a rip current, said Mr. Carrick, is to tread water and swim parallel to shore.

“The wider the rip current, the less there is a chance of getting swept,” he said. “A 30-foot wide rip current is considered a narrow rip current.”

Professor Scavia suggests keeping calm and visualize stepping off a treadmill that you cannot turn off, but that you must exit by stepping off to either side.

“The most important thing is that if you get caught, simply relax and float, then swim parallel to the shore,” he said. “It’s easy to swim out of a rip current, but not up against it.”

Mr. Carrick said new information is being learned about rip currents and radio broadcasts are now being posted to warn people when rip current weather is likely.

For more information, go on line to www.miseagrant.umich. edu, or call (734) 764-1118 for a free rip current brochure.

If caught in a

rip current:

•Don’t fight the current.

•Swim parallel to shore to get out of the current, then head back to shore at an angle.

•If you cannot escape, float calmly until the current slows.

• If you need help, call or wave for assistance.

•If assisting, be sure to have a floating device for yourself and the victim.

•Parents should not allow children to go swimming without a floating device.