U.S. Coast Guard Michigan City encourages beach safety

With two separate near-drownings happening over the weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard is warning beachgoers to pay attention to the safety precautions when visiting nearby lakes and beaches.

The U.S. Coast Guard in Michigan City says they're always looking out for your safety.

“We’ve got a boat crew of about 4 people so we’ve always got somebody driving, somebody is gonna be looking forward, somebody’s gonna be looking behind us,” said James Poe, an Officer with the U.S. Coast Guard Michigan City Post.

Even when parents remind their kids about the dangers of swimming,

“She just tells me not to go too far out like not past the sandbars,” said one young beachgoer.

Accidents can happen at any moment, even with so many people around.

“There were some kids on the break-wall over herein Michigan City jumping off by the lighthouse, you’ll see people out there a lot doing it. But depending on the wind and everything on Lake Michigan, there’s a lot of rip currents and things like that that people don’t really realize and it pulls people under pretty quickly,” said Poe.

If you are heading to the beach and plan on swimming, make sure you are aware of your surroundings and the beach warnings that are up for swimmers.

“If you’re gonna be at the beach swimming, try to stay in those swim buoys, pay attention to the flag system most beaches have. Its letting you know what the weather conditions are like,” said Poe.

You can find that beach flag near the lifeguard stand at the beach.

You can find beach safety tips by clicking here or statistics and information about rip currents on the great lakes by clicking here.