CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Even though Hurricane Helene's impact along the Florida coast is over 900 miles away, we are still seeing some of the residual effects right here at home in the form of big waves, high tides and dangerous rip currents.
The wave action created a surfers paradise on Friday with dozens of surfers spotted in the water.
For beachgoers like Kevin Justice visiting from San Antonio, the spectacle kept his family out of the water.
"I was out here yesterday and it [the tide] was probably from where we are now, another 50 feet back into the ocean. Coming up here today trying to find a good spot," Justice said.
Higher tides meant beach real estate was hard to come by with visitors having to park closer to the dunes to keep their vehicle from getting stuck in the wet sand.
Water safety experts like Sara Carney with the Je'Sani Smith Foundation say its important to not be fooled by an otherwise picture-perfect day.
"The sun is out and it was beautiful today, but there is still danger lurking through the water unfortunately," Carney said.
At many Coastal Bend beaches, red flags were up Friday signaling a dangerous rip current risk.
"The thing about rip currents, water can appear to be calm but it's really not calm under the surface," she said.
Not even a week ago, there was a drowning incident on a local beach that claimed the life of at least one person.
"That's actually been the first one we've seen in almost two years in this area, and that is significant because it's much higher nationwide," Carney said.
She believes our low numbers have to do with an increase of public awareness.
The US Coast Guard Corpus Christi sector often assists local first responders during searches for missing swimmers.
They say the most important thing to do is to stay informed on the flag system and if you get in the water, do so near lifeguards because it doesn't take much to get swept out.
"They are going to get out there so quickly, knowing exactly where you are on the beach, so if you have to call for help, the quicker you call for help and give us a good position of where that individual is, the quicker we can get there and rescue them," said Lt. Cmdr Victoria Martucci.
If you do get caught in a rip current, float, don't fight it, wave, yell and swim parallel to the shore until you can get out of it.
