Caution Urged After Rip Current Rescues Across New England

Lifeguards are urging beach-goers to use caution this holiday weekend following a spate of rip current rescues in New England. Lifeguards at New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach said they made 83 rescues on Thursday. At Maine’s Scarborough Beach State Park, lifeguards rescued eight children from rip currents that same day. Rip currents seem to be coming earlier this summer, “and they’re very strong,” said Dave Currier, head lifeguard at Scarborough Beach State Park. The National Weather Service had warned of rip currents on Thursday, but they can happen anytime. Pat Murphy, chief of the New Hampshire State Beach Patrol, reminds people that the key is not to panic and not to try to swim against a rip current.