Tybee Island lifeguards respond to multiple rescues during busy Memorial Day weekend

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) -Lifeguards responded to multiple water rescues across Tybee Island during Memorial Day weekend as red flag conditions and strong rip currents created hazardous swimming conditions.

Tybee Island Ocean Rescue had nine guards on duty across the beach and responded to rescues near the North Jetty, the pier, the South Jetty and the Sandbar area, said Erin Van Eck, lifeguard supervisor for Tybee Island Ocean Rescue. Crews also responded to multiple medical calls.

Red flags flew all Memorial Day weekend due to high surf, multiple rip currents and a strong longshore current.

“That high surf and that red flag condition just pulls people out and we just go grab them, bring them back in,” Van Eck said.

New website shows real-time beach safety information

Beachgoers can now use the Safe Beach Day website to view which lifeguard towers are open, how many lifeguards are on duty, and current hazards at each tower in real time.

The website just launched this summer.

“Tybee Island is very unique in its shape and the way that the beach is,” VanEck said. “And so it’ll be really helpful for beachgoers to know which towers are going to be open, which areas are going to be guarded by lifeguards, where it just might be a little bit safer for their kids to be swimming.”

The department is in the process of hiring more staff.

Safety advice for swimmers

VanEck advised swimmers to pay attention to where other people are swimming, as lifeguards move people away from hazards such as the jetties and pier.

If caught in a rip current, swimmers should not fight against it.

“That’s just going to exhaust you and then it’s going to keep taking you out because I guarantee you the ocean’s going to win every time,” VanEck said.

Instead, swimmers should swim with the current as it takes them out, then swim parallel to shore to break out of the rip current before swimming back in.

Anyone who sees someone in distress in the water should call 911 or find a lifeguard.