VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The red flags were out early Sunday morning on lifeguard stands at the at the oceanfront in Virginia Beach as the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal made their way up the East Coast.
The red flags indicate the water is dangerous.
Watch: Red flags up! VB Oceanfront lifeguards make 11 rescues over the weekend
“I was there for, like, 30 seconds. When I closed my eyes, I was in the beginning part of the beach and when I opened my eyes I was past the shore break just that fast," surfer Jai Cheramie said, describing his experience in the water.
Cheramie said he was surfing Saturday when he suspects he may have gotten caught in a rip current.
“I was, like, ‘Whoah.’ I was trying to swim against it to go back to shore and it was kind of hard if you weren’t experienced," Cheramie said.
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Conditions like that can bring out the red flags.
As News 3 meteorologist Myles Henderson explained on News 3 This Morning Sunday, the rough surf was thanks to Tropical Storm Chantal making landfall in the Carolinas.
“What we want people to do when we see red flags on the lifeguard stands is go talk to the lifeguards about the conditions," Virginia Beach Oceanfront EMS President Tom Gill said.
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When News 3 talked with Gill Sunday morning, he said the lifeguards were trying to keep people from going beyond waste deep in the water.
“The best thing these people have done is put themselves n front of lifeguards. If they get in trouble, lifeguards can help them. If things get progressively worse, the lifeguards will pull them closer back in or get them out of the water altogether," said Gill.
Watch: Virginia Beach firefighters, lifeguards train for water rescues ahead of Memorial Day weekend
The beach typically won’t be closed except for a hurricane, and the decision to close the beach is made by the city manager.
Overall, Gill said as of Sunday morning the holiday weekend hadn’t been bad with relatively few calls for help, including about 45 reports of lost kids per day which he said is below normal.
