Beach safety debated

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Summer is still weeks away, but already the safety of beaches in Florida’s Panhandle is a hot topic.

The debate isn’t about whether the beaches are dangerous, because the numbers — more than 40 accidental drownings in three years — clearly show that they are. The back-and-forth, instead, is about whether beach patrols, more warning flags and additional lifeguards will be enough to save lives.

Critics, including relatives of victims, are pushing for even more lifeguards and stronger efforts to warn tourists that rough surf or rip currents could kill them.

But officials say the improvements are helping. Just three days after the first all-terrain vehicle patrols began here last month, a lifeguard rescued a 19-year-old man who had ignored a red warning flag to keep out of the water.

“I can unequivocally tell you that we would have had our first death already,” said Bob West, Pensacola Beach safety director. “We didn’t, and that alone — that boy going home to his mom — that’s immeasurable.”

Pensacola Beach, where seven persons drowned last year, created the patrols by adding three lifeguards for a total of 26 full-time and seven relief positions.

In Walton County, about 50 miles east of Pensacola, six persons drowned last year, all on June 8. The county has no lifeguards for its 26 miles of beach.

Lifeguards are a long-term solution but weren’t considered this year because of too little time to start before the summer beach season, said Robert Shelton, chairman of a Walton County beach safety and education committee created after the deaths.

Walton, however, has obtained a rescue boat, and is putting up more warning flags and signs, adding identification numbers to the poles and planning a safety awareness program for children.

The Walton victims included former CNN reporter Larry LaMotte, 60, of Atlanta. He drowned while trying to rescue his 12-year-old son, who made it to shore unharmed. Red flags were flying, but the gulf was filled with people.

“I would not have let my children step toe in that water if I’d had any idea that it was that dangerous,” said Mr. LaMotte’s widow, Sandee.

She said no one warned them when they checked in during their vacation or at the beach, although a sheriff’s deputy drove by. Only later did she find an explanation of the red flag at the bottom of a flier on beach rules mixed with restaurant menus at their rental unit.

A state law passed last year encourages, but does not require, a uniform system of five beach flags: green for calm, yellow for caution, red for danger, two reds for closure and purple for hazardous marine life.