Latest news with #BeachPatrol
New York Post
14-05-2025
- New York Post
Florida deputies race to save three kids from drowning in dangerous rip current: ‘Help me! Help me!'
A T-ball team's anticipated fun-filled Florida beach day abruptly turned terrifying when three young children found themselves caught in a dangerous rip current. A good Samaritan's quick thinking and heroic actions by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officers averted potential tragedy Saturday afternoon at Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville. Advertisement 'Help me! Help me!' That's what officers heard from a young boy caught in the rip current. Moments earlier, deputies saw beachgoer Steven Insco carrying a small boy and girl out of the water. Hearing the child's cries for help, Beach Patrol Officer Tyler Sweeney immediately shed his vest and gear, grabbed a buoy and plunged into the water, the sheriff's office said. At the same time, Officer Billy Crocker tended to an unconscious 8-year-old girl and prepared to begin CPR. Advertisement After giving her a sternum rub, she began to show signs of recovery. Firefighters quickly arrived, started oxygen and rushed the girl to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, Sweeney located the boy in the surf and brought him safely back to shore. The rip current caused 3 kids during their T-ball team's beach day to nearly drown. First Coast News Beach Patrol Officer Tyler Sweeney immediately shed his vest and gear, grabbed a buoy and plunged into the water. Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Advertisement 'We are grateful that all three children are okay today, knowing this could have easily ended in tragedy,' the sheriff's office said. Notably, the sheriff's office said Crocker was recently recognized as the department's Police Officer of the Month for his exemplary work in solving a hit-and-run case involving a 6-year-old. 'We can't stress water safety enough,' the sheriff's office warned. 'Rip currents and rough surf are deadly. Adults and children need to be extra cautious, know their swimming abilities, and, if in doubt, stay out.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Florida rip current nearly drowns 3 kids during T-ball team's beach day: 'Help me! Help me!'
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A T-ball team's anticipated fun-filled Florida beach day abruptly turned terrifying when three young children found themselves caught in a dangerous rip current. A good Samaritan's quick thinking and heroic actions by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officers averted potential tragedy Saturday afternoon at Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville. "Help me! Help me!" That's what officers heard from a young boy caught in the rip current. Moments earlier, deputies saw beachgoer Steven Insco carrying a small boy and girl out of the water. Hearing the child's cries for help, Beach Patrol Officer Tyler Sweeney immediately shed his vest and gear, grabbed a buoy and plunged into the water, the sheriff's office said. At the same time, Officer Billy Crocker tended to an unconscious 8-year-old girl and prepared to begin CPR. After giving her a sternum rub, she began to show signs of recovery. The photo below shows her in the recovery position. WARNING: Viewer discretion advised. Firefighters quickly arrived, started oxygen and rushed the girl to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, Sweeney located the boy in the surf and brought him safely back to shore. "We are grateful that all three children are okay today, knowing this could have easily ended in tragedy," the sheriff's office said. Notably, the sheriff's office said Crocker was recently recognized as the department's Police Officer of the Month for his exemplary work in solving a hit-and-run case involving a 6-year-old. "We can't stress water safety enough," the sheriff's office warned. "Rip currents and rough surf are deadly. Adults and children need to be extra cautious, know their swimming abilities, and, if in doubt, stay out."Original article source: Florida rip current nearly drowns 3 kids during T-ball team's beach day: 'Help me! Help me!'
Miami Herald
13-05-2025
- Climate
- Miami Herald
T-ball team's beach trip turns terrifying when 3 kids seen drowning, FL cops say
A T-ball team's beach outing turned terrifying when multiple children were heard screaming for help in the Atlantic Ocean, according to officials in North Florida. It happened Saturday, May 10, in the Jacksonville area, when three children were rapidly whisked away from the beach by a powerful rip current, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said in a May 12 Facebook post. The resulting chaos included rescues and beach resuscitation occurring simultaneously, officials said. It started when a boy screaming 'Help me! Help me!' drew attention to children flailing in the water off Huguenot Memorial Park. 'Moments earlier, officers saw beachgoer Steven Insco carrying a small boy and girl out of the water,' the sheriff's office reported. 'Beach Patrol Officer Tyler Sweeney stripped off his vest and gear, grabbed a buoy, and dove into the water to find the boy who was calling for help. At the same time, Officer Billy Crocker tended to an unconscious 8-year-old girl and prepared to begin CPR. After giving her a sternum rub, she began to show signs of recovery.' Jacksonville Fire and Rescue arrived soon after and fitted the girl with a breathing apparatus and rushed her to a hospital, officials said. 'Meanwhile, Officer Sweeney located the boy in the surf and brought him safely back to shore,' the sheriff's office said. Crocker visited the 8-year-old girl Sunday at the hospital and was assured she has improved and would soon be released, officials said. The children were at the beach for a T-ball team outing, officials said. Details of where the team is based were not released. Rip currents are a common cause of drowning along the nation's beaches, experts say. The currents are powerful channels of water that flow away from shore at speeds of up to 8 feet per second, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 'That is faster than an Olympic swimmer! Drowning deaths occur when people, pulled away from the shoreline, are unable to keep themselves afloat and swim to shore,' NOAA reports. 'This may be due to any combination of fear, panic, exhaustion, or lack of swimming skills. Once people become tired, they can easily go under without flotation to hold onto.'
CBS News
02-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Beach Patrol raises concerns about rip currents ahead of Fort Lauderdale Air Show
Pilots spent Friday practicing death-defying stunts for the Fort Lauderdale Air Show this weekend. But, all the danger is not just above the water. "This is a Super Bowl of lifeguarding pretty much," said Beach Patrol Lt. David Ochoa. He called this weekend their busiest as tens of thousands of people will be on the beach for the air show. They're staffing like they would at the height of spring break. Last year, the water was calm, yet Beach Patrol gave more than 800 warnings about beach conditions. "On average, there is one lifeguard per tower, and then depending on the busier zones, we'll do two lifeguards per tower for this occasion, and at some towers, the busiest ones, for example, at Sunrise Boulevard, will do a triple," Ochoa said. Rip currents have been an issue for days — lifeguards gave a demonstration on what to do if you're caught in one. "The first thing you want to do when you're in a rip current is to wave for help," the demonstrator said. "If that doesn't work, float on your back, remember you can float a lot because of the salt, and try to swim towards the sand bar." The Ferro Family is visiting from Argentina because they're fans of the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. It's their fourth time at the airshow. They know to stay close to a lifeguard tower. "We are aware of the sea and the dangers of the sea, so that's why we usually stay very close to them, to be to feel safer," said Matt Ferro. Lifeguards said if you're here with children, keep them close. "Please keep all children within arm's reach," Ochoa said. "Just remember the ocean is an uncontrollable environment, so we want to be aware of that."
ABC News
23-04-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Discarded weather balloons from Tasmania found on Warrnambool beach
Pete Furphy never expected to be collecting high-tech scientific equipment when he took his kids to clean a remote beach on Victoria's south-west coast. The Furphys were scouring a 3.5-kilometre stretch of Warrnambool beach, three hours' drive west of Melbourne, when his 12-year-old daughter spotted a piece of plastic foam with an antenna and a deflated piece of latex attached. A bit of research revealed it was not ordinary marine debris — they had found the remains of a weather balloon that had floated across Bass Strait from Tasmania. It was launched as part of a US-led project studying climate and atmospheric conditions. The packs, called radiosondes, record information about clouds and precipitation. ( Supplied: Warrnambool Beach Patrol ) About 1,300 weather balloons are launched globally every day, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. How many of those, like the Furphy's find, end up on a beach far from home is not clear. "It's like state-sanctioned littering," Mr Furphy said. "To be on that beach when we're so far away from other urban centres, it's a shock to see the plastic." Keeping the coast clear Colleen Hughson leads the team of environmental warriors cleaning beaches across the south-west. She was not as surprised by the find. "She said we've been getting heaps of them this summer, they're putting up two of them every day," Mr Furphy said. " But that day we went out we found two of these meteorological measuring devices, which is quite extraordinary. " Volunteers have found six discarded weather balloons on south-west Victoria shores in recent months. ( Supplied: Warrnambool Beach Patrol ) The balloons are launched from the Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station on Tasmania's north-west tip — one of just three sites globally selected for their pristine air quality. Each package carries a radiosonde — a styrofoam box with sensors, GPS, and batteries — to measure temperatures, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed, wind direction. Warrnambool's Beach Patrol crew have found five other similar balloons washed up on south-west Victorian shores this summer. The CAPE-k project The cleanest air in the world is collected from an air-monitoring station at Kennaook/Cape Grim. ( ABC News: Jordan Young ) The weather balloons found in Warrnambool were from the CAPE-k research project hosted by the CSIRO, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and the US Department of Energy. Photo shows Aerial Kennaook_Cape Grim baseline air monitoring station in Tasmania When the wind blows in from the Southern Ocean, the north-western tip of Tasmania receives the purest air on the planet. For scientists, it's the perfect place to resolve a puzzle that's messing with climate models. The project's operations manager, Heath Powers, said taking samples in such a pristine environment allowed researchers to gather data about how clouds formed without influence from emissions. Every day, up to four weather balloons are launched from the station and rise 25 kilometres into the atmosphere. "They start off as pretty decent-sized party balloons … and as they go up the atmospheric pressure drops and they get bigger and bigger and bigger until at the top of their flight they're about the size of a school bus," Mr Powers said. " That's when they finally burst and fall back to Earth. " Eco-friendly options Mr Powers said the balloons, which were made out of a natural latex rubber, and the attached packages were ultimately incorporated into the environment because there was no practical way to retrieve them. He said testing of more eco-friendly packages was underway. The new radiosonde packages are made out of a wax-covered cardboard wrapping. Mr Powers said the research was important enough to justify the environmental impact. "Clouds have a huge impact on warming and cooling of the Earth's surface, which impacts everything from long-term climate to short-term weather," Mr Powers said. Researchers are testing radiosondes made out of more biodegradable materials. ( Supplied: Vaisala ) He said launching weather balloons was "absolutely vital" to scientific research and operational science, such as forecasting and understanding how weather impacted people. "I want to acknowledge that these certainly have an environmental impact and we're working to try and improve and minimise the impact," he said. " The trade-off is that the measurements and the impact on people's quality of life and people's safety by knowing what the weather is, are absolutely important and that's part of the trade-off equation. "
