Here’s the truth about longshore and rip currents and how to survive them, SC experts say

Georgetown County Emergency Management and the Pawleys Island Police Department have both issued beach hazard statements about dangerous longshore and rip currents this week.

“Another reminder that the ocean is not the best place to beat the heat today. We have a Moderate Risk for rip currents and a strong longshore current. Take a dip in the pool instead until conditions improve!” Georgetown County Emergency Management recently said on Facebook .

Both currents are common in the Grand Strand and can be dangerous. Here’s how to tell the difference and what you should know to stay safe.

Longshore currents

Longshore currents run parallel to the beach and are caused by the burst of energy released when a wave reaches the shoreline. If you’ve ever been in the ocean and noticed that you’ve drifted away from your family or stuff, you’ve experienced a longshore current.

“It creates a pulling effect,” said Georgetown County Emergency Management director Brandon Ellis. “If a swimmer is pulled out, they can get caught in a longshore current, which just enhances that kind of an undertow type situation where it pulls them up the coast, parallel to the coast.”

While longshore currents don’t pull swimmers out to sea, they can move people into deeper areas. Fatalities are rare and, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Pfaff, longshore currents are more often to result in missing person situations because family and friends lose sight of swimmers carried down the beach.

To get out of a longshore current, move toward shore, perpendicular to the current. If you find yourself unable to escape, stay calm and motion for help from the shore.

Rip currents

Rip currents are strong currents that flow back into the ocean from the shoreline and typically form at breaks in sandbars or by structures like piers. They pull swimmers away from the shore and tend to be more dangerous than longshore currents.

Between 2000 and 2023, 184 people have drowned in rip currents in North and South Carolina. Rip currents are the most common weather-related death in the Carolinas, accounting for more deaths than tornadoes, floods, lightning, wind and tropical storms combined, according to the National Weather Service .

“Lifeguards refer to them as drowning machines. They are kind of like machines out in the ocean,” Pfaff said. “If you get in its way, it’s going to carry you out and, if you don’t know what to do, then that’s where we run into trouble.”

Rip current speeds average 1 to 2 feet per second, so swimming against them is ineffective and exhausting. Instead, to escape a rip current you should swim sideways, parallel to the shore, until you’re out of the current, then swim back to land. If you need help, don’t panic and seek emergency assistance by calling and motioning.

If you see someone else caught in a rip current, Pfaff says you should alert emergency services but don’t swim out yourself if you don’t have a flotation device.

“Lifeguards go through extensive training. Someone who just shows up at the beach to have a good time doesn’t have that training and what happens is, these people will swim out and, if they can make it out to where the victim is, they don’t have something to float on,” Pfaff said.

According to the National Weather Service, 28% of rip current drownings since 2011 were bystanders.

“When [untrained bystanders] reach the victim, the victim’s trying to get air in their lungs, and they inadvertently push people under because they’re reacting instinctually, not rationally, so that you get pushed underwater and now you’re in trouble ... so people should never enter the water to help someone without flotation,” Pfaff said.

If you’re planning a trip to the beach, always heed local warnings and check the National Weather Service’s beach forecast for hazards.

“Respect the ocean. It can be a great, pleasurable place to go and enjoy and vacation, but it can also be dangerous, and it can take a turn without a moment’s notice,” said Ellis. “We just encourage folks to stay safe. Don’t go out too far and, if the ocean is rough, avoid getting in the surf for your safety.”