A 60-year-old woman from Missouri has become the fifth tourist to die in four days off the coast of Panama City Beach, Florida.
Debbie Szymanski, of St. Louis, was found unconscious in the Gulf of Mexico by her family Sunday around 11:30 a.m. They were carrying her to shore when Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies and emergency personnel arrived on the scene near Carillon on the west end of Panama City Beach, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Szymanski was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said. She was a victim of a rip current. The New York Post reported.
Two days earlier, three young Alabama men traveling in the area with friends had checked into a rental car and gone swimming when they were lost, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
Beach safety tips: 7 things to do during a rip current and how to stay safe around the water
If you are caught in a rip current, don’t try to swim directly to shore. Instead, swim along the shoreline until you are out of the current’s gravitational pull. (Hutchinson Island, Florida Facebook Page)
“The three men were caught in rapids shortly after entering the water,” the post read. The men were identified as Harold Denzel Hunter, 25, Jemonda Ray, 24, and Marius Richardson, 24, all of Birmingham. All three were fathers.
Last Thursday, 19-year-old Ryker Milton of Oklahoma died after being caught in a rip current off the coast of Panama City Beach. KOCO reported.
Stay Healthy: Prevent drowning with these child-safe water play tips
In a recent Facebook post, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office warned beachgoers that a single red flag on the shoreline means strong currents.
Flags are posted on beaches across Florida to inform watergoers of the current conditions. (WTVT)
On the same day, a Pennsylvania couple visiting Florida with their six children drowned after being caught in a rip current while swimming.
Pennsylvania parents drown after getting caught in a rip current while vacationing with their children in Florida
This image provided by NOAA shows the harmless green dye used to mark rip currents, which are strong, narrow currents common along the U.S. East, Gulf and West Coasts and the Great Lakes. About 100 people drown in rip currents along U.S. coasts each year, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association. (Associated Press via NOAA)
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Brian Waters, 51, and Erica Wishard, 48, and their two nearly teenage children were caught in the current off Hutchinson Island on Florida’s southeast coast, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. The two children tried to escape the current and rescue their parents, but conditions became dangerous and they were forced to swim to shore, it added.
According to the sheriff’s office, Martin County Marine Rescue attempted life-saving measures and transported the couple to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
