Beaches to reopen

Wild weather to ease, but rip currents to remain a risk all week.

The heavy surf pounding South Florida’s coastline on Tuesday closed beaches to swimming, shuttered coastal businesses and led to an ocean rescue.

Although the rough weather should start to calm today, conditions will remain ripe for rip currents the rest of this week.

The weather stems from a powerful storm that battered the Northeast and brought swells and cool temperatures into South Florida. Tuesday was the third straight day of big waves.

A man and woman were on the shore in Riviera Beach about 9:30 a.m. when a wave swept them away, a witness told WPEC-CBS12. The couple “got swooped off the jetty into the water — hit the rocks,” said surfer Jeff Serino. “Pretty scary stuff.”

Serino and his friend used their surfboards to help float the two people near the shore, where other rescue crews took over, he said. They were taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

Some popular piers, such as the Lake Worth Pier and Juno Beach Pier, also were closed Tuesday.

Lt. Squid McGlamery, of Boca Raton’s Ocean Rescue, said he hasn’t seen swells like this since Hurricane Sandy brushed South Florida’s coast in 2012.

Bob Molleda, a warning coordination meteorologist

for the Miami office of the National Weather Service, said the nor’easter that blasted the northern East Coast had an unusually large impact on Florida and islands south of Puerto Rico. It lingered between the U.S. coast and Bermuda.

Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach were among the cities to close beaches to swimming because of safety concerns. The beaches are expected to reopen today. .

Tuesday also was the third consecutive day that the Quarterdeck Restaurant, 300 N. Beach Road in Dania Beach, was unable to open because of flooding in the parking lot.

The storm system’s effect on South Florida is expected to diminish in coming days. But the threat of coastal flooding could continue in vulnerable beachfront areas, Molleda said.

WPEC-CBS12, news partner of the Sun Sentinel, contributed to this report.

SUSAN STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Waves pound a Dania Beach lifeguard station on Tuesday. The Dania Beach parking lot, which includes access to the Quarterdeck Restaurant, has been closed for three days.