Drivers in Jacksonville Beach continue to confront pools of standing water on the roads, and those headed to the beach should be aware of the dangers there.
Lt. Taylor Anderson with Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue says the beaches are open, but the bands of wind and rain coming ashore are creating very rough conditions.
“We do have an emergency crew standing by at Jacksonville Beach and we are manning the tower at the lifeguard station, watching for anybody who might go in the water,” he said.
According to Anderson, the waves are between two and three feet tall, but they’re breaking on a sandbar very close to shore. Only highly experienced swimmers and surfers, he says, should be going in the water at this point.
When the rain stops, the wind dies down and the sun returns, that doesn't mean it safe to go back in the ocean. The beach, he says, will remain dangerous even as weather conditions improve.
"Because the sand bottom remains churned up and so we still have powerful run-out activity in the days after a storm," he said. "The surface is now calm, it looks safe and it’s a nice day again, but the conditions are still really dangerous."
It will likely be this weekend, he says, before conditions are safe for everyone.
