Officials warn of heat risks for beachgoers at Alabama’s Gulf Coast

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Alabama’s beaches are packed, the temperatures are steaming, and finding relief from the heat can be a challenge.

“Either get in the water or stay in the shade,” Skyler Moore said while enjoying his first visit to Orange Beach.

“We have some pretty extreme heat out here on the beach,” says Brett Lessinger with Orange Beach Surf and Rescue. “You can feel it as soon as you walk outside the air is a little thicker.”

Even at the beach, there are things you need to know before you go, according to Daniel Moore from Knoxville, Tennessee.

“Drink plenty of fluids and bring canopies or umbrellas.”

With temperatures hovering around the century mark, lifeguards in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are staying busy with heat-related emergencies that Lessinger says are pretty easy to recognize if you know the signs.

“If you stop sweating that’s a bad sign, headache, nausea kind of being forgetful.”

Getting in the gulf water to cool off would seem obvious but temperatures there are at 85 degrees. Still, lifeguards say some relief is better than none. “It’s not the coldest water that we have but it’s definitely a lot colder than the outside temperature,” says Lessinger.

While the high heat is common this time of year, packing a little something extra with the standard beach gear is a must.

“It’s almost impossible to survive out here longer than an hour without the shade,” says Lessinger. “You’ve got to have some form or fashion of shade.”

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