Last weekend was a busy one for East Hampton Village lifeguards, who made a total of 22 saves.
“It was definitely our record for this year, but it’s not like it’s a good record,” said Lucy Emptage, the assistant chief lifeguard for the village.
Stand three, the easternmost lifeguard post at Main Beach, had the most saves — 12. Ms. Emptage says there has been a giant rip current just to the east of the stand, making it a dangerous area to swim.
“Right now, the combination of people and strong rip currents make that stand very prone to saves,” she said. Most of the saves “were little plucks, but two or three were full-blown rescues.” No one was injured.
Strong wave action looks to continue into the weekend, with Tropical Storm Debby tracking just west of the East End Friday night. Surfline.com is calling for seven-foot waves on Saturday morning, with onshore wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. The waves are forecast to ease on Sunday, but rip currents will be a problem for swimmers all weekend.
