Rip Current — Southeast Suffolk, New York

2015-08-01 · Southeast Suffolk, New York

Event narrative

On Saturday, August 1, a 23-year-old Brooklyn man drowned off the waters of Westhampton Beach. Westhampton Beach Village Police received a call about 1:40 p.m. reporting a man who was struggling to leave the waters off Rogers Beach.

Four village lifeguards pulled the man from the water onto shore, where he went into cardiac arrest. The lifeguards performed CPR on the man, and police later arrived and used an automatic external defibrillator. The man was taken by Westhampton Beach Ambulance to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he was pronounced dead. Officials withheld the man's identity pending notification of relatives.

Wider weather episode

A persistent southwest flow ahead of an approaching cold front the last week of July resulted in building south swells and wind waves into Saturday August 1. NWS New York forecast a moderate rip current threat in the early morning of August 1, which was upgraded to a high risk for rip currents at 1240 pm that day based on marine and surf observations. Moderate to strong rip current activity was reported by lifeguards Saturday Afternoon into the Evening. This rip current activity unfortunately resulted in the loss of 2 lives on the Long Island beaches that afternoon and evening.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 600462. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.