VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Beaches were packed with people enjoying the Fourth of July holiday on Monday but Volusia County Beach Safety says swimmers need to be aware of the conditions because the water can still get choppy.
As Tropical Storm Elsa approaches Florida’s west coast, Volusia County Beach Safety Capt. Laura Warner said they’ve starting preliminary preparations.
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“There’s always gonna be a concern with the unknown. We are taking some steps in preparing for the storm to come. Right now, it’s just securing some minor assets such as cones or barricades,” Warner said.
Although the storm is coming in from the opposite side of Volusia County, Warner said rip currents are possible.
“We are expecting high rip current risk conditions and as the storm approaches, we’ll have to decide, you know, is it gonna be closing it completely to people swimming or if it’s just gonna be a high rip current risk,” Warner said.
Beach erosion is another factor that could cause some damage.
“There’s always concerns for erosion any time that a major storm like this is gonna be impacting our beaches. Hopefully we’ll luck out having it actually come from the Gulf side versus coming directly from the east,” Warner said.
Warner added that rip currents are typical this time of year. Currents are constantly changing whenever there’s an uptick in the winds. Volusia County Beach Safety stressed the importance of staying within guarded parts of the beach.