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“Double Red Flags are flying on Panama City Beach,” fire officials wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “Please avoid getting in the water. The decision to ignore the warnings has impacts far beyond the swimmer that becomes distressed.”
Videofootage of the incidentshowed dozens of people lined up, with some on surfboards, during the rescue. Others stood and watched on the beach as the waves crashed into the shore.
Onewitness wrote on Twitterthat a deputy told him the swimmer “had a belly full of salt water and was going to be sick for a while.”
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE.
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Vincent says Sunday’s rescues were made after officials began flying double red flags, which mean the conditions are “too dangerous for swimming.” She says authorities found a 67-year-old man dead in the water less than an hour after he was reported missing to police.
At least four water rescues were made Monday morning, Vincent tells PEOPLE. Reports say the dangerous water conditions are likely a result of Barry, which was a category 1 hurricane at its strongest but weakened into a tropical storm and then a tropical depression.
Barry struck the Louisiana coast, making landfall in Intracoastal City, near New Orleans, on Saturday,according to the Associated Press. Southwestern Louisiana saw about a foot of rainfall total over the weekend, and there was a 7-foot storm surge reported in Amerada Pass,Good Morning Americareported.
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Some 150,000 residents were without power in Louisiana on Sunday, andthe National Guard respondedin the state,according toUSA Today.Gov. John Bel Edwardsheaded to coastal Louisianaon Monday to inspect the damage after the storm. Hevisited Myrtle Grove, where he inspected efforts to repair a flood-damaged road.Edwards said in a news conference that the storm was, thankfully, not as bad as officials initially anticipated but urged residents, “Don’t let your guard down.““I want to remind everyone it’s just July,”he told reporters. “Typically we see most activity in August and Sept.”
source: people.com
