GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — As high temperatures are expected to continue through the week, many West Michigan residents are turning to the beach to beat the heat. However, the U.S. Coast Guard warns that heat can make beach days much more dangerous.
According to 13 ON YOUR SIDE's weather team, low to mid-90-degree weather is expected through Saturday. While people may want to avoid the heat by jumping in the water, that may not be the best course of action.
A red flag warning was issued for Grand Haven on Tuesday- meaning beachgoers should avoid swimming. The threat, according to the Coast Guard, comes from a mix of heat and dangerous currents.
"You can't fight it," U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer James Ginnel said. "People think they can, you know, really anything lake-wise. But with rip currents, you can't."
Ginnel said most emergencies happen because beachgoers don't know their limits- going out to swim in bad conditions not knowing how tired they truly are.
Because of the heat, Ginnel said, it's much easier to get dehydrated- meaning it could make an emergency even worse.
"Sit out in the sun all day, getting worn out, you know, lugging all around the beach, and then you go try to challenge the waves," Ginnel said. "You get pulled out, and all sudden you find that you don't have the energy to swim back."
The best thing to do if a swimmer is caught in a rip current, Ginnel said, is to wait until you stop being pulled. Fighting against the rip current is almost impossible, he said, and could tire you out even further.
Ginnel also said keeping a personal floatation device could save your life- letting you use less energy to keep yourself afloat.
"I still wear a life jacket every time I go out," Ginnel said. "It's just going to increase your chance of survival in case something happens. And it just does not hurt to have one on."
Ginnel said it's of utmost importance that if you see something going wrong at the beach this week, say something. It could save a life.
"There's so many people out there, and luckily, we do get plenty of reports, and a lot of stuff gets, you know, it's left under the rug," Ginnel said. "People usually report what they see, and that's really what we kind of, what we rely on,"
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