Panama City Beach features white sand and aquamarine waters, making it a popular tourist destination in the summer.
It’s also one of the most dangerous places in the country for swimmers, with currents that can drown them. Local officials have issued multiple warnings, but swimmers still head out. Seven people have died this year from rip currents that pull tourists from the Florida city and surrounding coastline into the Gulf of Mexico.
Three people died in Panama City Beach and four drowned in unincorporated areas of Bay County. Three men in their mid-20s from Birmingham, Alabama, drowned together at a beach in an unincorporated area on June 21. Two people died on June 23: a 59-year-old woman from St. Louis and a 29-year-old man of unknown origin.
All seven were tourists who entered the bay during a single red flag warning, meaning dangerous rip currents are expected and lifeguards advise people not to go into the water. Panama City Beach police stepped up coastal patrols this week to try to prevent an increase in drownings. Officials issued a double red flag warning, forbidding people from going into the water. Anyone who violates the order faces arrest and a $500 fine.
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“Any double red flag situation is very concerning to us,” Police Chief JR Talamantes said. “We’d rather have more officers on the beach trying to prevent drownings than officers looking for traffic violations.”
Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90s on Saturday, with heat index numbers reaching triple digits. In a morning forecast, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said it would be “very hot and muggy outside.”
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But that doesn’t mean tourists in areas with dangerous currents should jump into the Gulf of Mexico right now. The NWS also announced a high risk of rip currents at all beaches in Bay and Gulf counties through Sunday morning. “Rip currents can sweep even expert swimmers away from shore and into deep waters,” the NWS coastal hazards message said.
Common flag colors used in beach flag warning systems include a green flag for low danger, a yellow flag for medium danger, one red flag for high danger, two red flags for very high danger, etc. But in Panama City Beach and Bay County, there are no green flags because officials insist beachgoers should always be cautious when entering the bay.
Local officials say Bay County beach flags don’t indicate how big the waves will be at a particular time, but rather the strength of rip currents.
“The waves aren’t what’s killing people here. The waves themselves aren’t the danger,” Panama City Beach Fire Rescue and Beach Safety Officer Darryl Paul told the Panama City News-Herald. “The danger is the rip currents, that’s why we have the flags up.”
More people drowned in rip currents in Panama City Beach last year than anywhere else in the U.S., according to the National Weather Service. At least eight people died in this part of the Gulf Coast, accounting for nearly a third of Florida’s 30 rip current deaths. By comparison, five people died in rip currents in New Jersey in 2023. Three people each died in California, South Carolina and Louisiana.
Hidden dangers lurk at popular beaches during the summer: fast-moving waters can pull swimmers from shore, leaving them exhausted as they struggle to get back to safety. The National Ocean Service estimates that thousands of people are rescued from rip currents in the United States each year. About 91 people die in rip currents on U.S. beaches, according to data from the Weather Service, up from a 10-year average of 74 per year.
The NWS recommends that if you’re at a beach, swim near a lifeguard. If you get caught in a rip current, stay calm. Swim parallel to the shore (not toward it) until you are out of the current. Then swim back to land. If you can’t escape, head to shore and yell or wave for help.
Jeanine Santucci of USA TODAY and Jim Ross of the Ocala StarBanner contributed to this story.
