Peril in the Great Lakes
Closed pools, lack of beach lifeguards and high water levels create ‘the perfect storm’ for drownings.
With many public pools closed this summer because of coronavirus, folks looking to cool off will likely head to beaches.
Strapped local governments are not hiring lifeguards, which means places like Bradford Beach in Milwaukee won’t be staffed to handle emergencies.
Add in record high Lake Michigan water levels, which can create bigger waves and stronger rip currents, plus erosion that has reduced the size of some beaches, and it’s no wonder Great Lakes water safety officials are worried.
Last year there were 97 drownings on the Great Lakes — roughly half on Lake Michigan — and a record 117 in 2018.
“It’s kind of the perfect storm for Great Lakes drownings,” said Dave Benjamin, executive director of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. “Higher water levels, smaller beaches, more people on the beach, it’s easy to lose track of your children on a crowded beach.
“And canceling lifeguards is a huge setback,” Benjamin said.
In Milwaukee County nine outdoor pools, two indoor pools at Pulaski and Noyes parks plus two water parks won’t open this summer. A fully staffed Bradford Beach would have 14 lifeguards working seven days a week for 10 weeks at a total cost of $70,000.
But the county is facing a lifeguard shortage. Last year only nine lifeguards worked at Bradford Beach five days each week for a total cost of $41,335, Milwaukee County Parks marketing and communications manager Ian Everett said in an email.
Because they work in open water, beach lifeguards require different training than pool lifeguards. Typically, most guards assigned to Bradford Beach have spent one or two previous summers working at pools, Everett said.
Other municipalities have canceled lifeguard programs this year, too.
Jamie Racklyeft, executive director of the Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium, pointed out that untrained beach-goers who try to save someone in distress often become casualties themselves. Since drownings happen within minutes, calling 911 to summon help often means first responders end up recovering bodies rather than saving lives.
Plus most people think they know how to swim and are unaware how quickly a rip current can pull them or their companions away from shore.
“The Great Lakes are great equalizers. They don’t care if you’re short or tall, young or old, male or female, black or white,” said Racklyeft, who almost drowned in a rip current in Lake Michigan in 2012 but was saved by two kayakers.
When a family arrives at a beach, Racklyeft recommends designating one person on shore to always watch children in the water until handing off the
duty to another person, like a designated driver.
Swimmers who find themselves in trouble should follow the drowning survival strategy of flip, float and follow — flipping on their back to stay calm, floating to conserve energy and following the safest path out of the water which often means swimming parallel to the shore when caught in a rip current.
“There’s a distinction between knowing how to swim and knowing how to survive. Most people have a false sense of security,” said Benjamin.
Racklyeft and Benjamin are not just worrying about swimmers this summer, they’re fearful over the greater number of kayakers, stand-up paddleboarders and boaters on the Great Lakes as boat sales soar from people looking for a way to have fun with their families while social distancing.
Every year some of the drowning statistics kept by the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project include groups of people who decide to stop their boat and swim and then watch helplessly as the boat drifts away without them, or the person left in the boat doesn’t know how to operate the water craft, said Benjamin.
Also seen each year are people who use the wrong kind of kayak for the water they’re in and fall out and drown, quite often with the life vest stowed on board the kayak, Benjamin said.
Some accidents happen when large inflatable rafts or toys are brought to the beach and blow away in the wind or current, sometimes with a child aboard, or when someone drowns while trying to retrieve the toy.
Several years ago the National Weather Service in Sullivan began issuing a daily beach forecast for beaches along Lake Michigan from Sheboygan to the Kenosha area with “swim risk” indicators of low, moderate and high. Forecasts are issued around 4 a.m. with that day’s expected weather, water and air temperatures, wave height, winds, ultraviolet index and sunrise and sunset times. Another detailed beach forecast is issued around 5 p.m. for the next day’s weather.
The National Weather Service also issues a beach hazard map with green, yellow and red colors signifying the risk to swimmers and boaters.
The Great Lakes Water Safety Consortium has scheduled seven virtual one-hour town hall meetings for water enthusiasts, community leaders, first responders, parents and anyone else with topics ranging from balancing the risks of drowning with the risk of coronavirus infection to the impact of high water levels on public safety.