RIVIERA BEACH, FL-- The men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard spend tireless hours on the water...always ready to assist in an emergency.

A South Florida station has help with their workload. Watchstander Chris Abernethy lives the guard's motto--"always ready to serve."

The retired New York City Firefighter has spent years working for free.

"As a volunteer here whatever I do, whatever watch I stand whatever job I do, that relieves an active person to do their job," says Abernethy.

BMC Mark Ryan of the US Coast Guard Lake Worth Inlet says, "He saves the government so much money it's ridiculous...he's an extra person here that's not getting paid."

Abernethy runs the communication center at the US Coast Guard Station Lake Worth. So whenever there's a call for help, he springs into action.
 
"The last thing I want to do as a retired person is just sit around and watch TV and be a couch potato...I have to be doing something I have too much nervous energy to just sit around,” Abernethy says.

He's a very valuable part of the team and has been for more than ten years. He works a full 40 hour week.

"If he wasn't here it would take two people to cover his watch because we normally stand four hour watches but Chris stands an eight hour watch almost every day,” Chief Ryan says.

All of that, without a pay check!

Jonathan Chapin works with Abernethy and looks up to him. "A lot of people do look up to him. and they step back a second and think...this guys in the radio room standing here 8 hrs a day doing what he does for free with us. If we want to start complaining, you know, about our job, this is our job we're getting paid for it, but he's not."

Chief Ryan adds, "If we need him to cover a watch throughout the week or the weekend, he's there in a heartbeat. He loves volunteering his time here and it's just invaluable for us here."

Abernethy says, "I found something I enjoy doing and I do it and it keeps me active and it keeps my mind active. I don't plan on checking out anytime soon and I enjoy this and it keeps me healthy"

Over the years Abernethy has saved the Coast Guard over a half million dollars. More importantly he’s saved lives along the way.

Florida's Division of Emergency Management is urging swimmers to exercise caution today on beaches between Volusia and Martin Counties.

The department says there is a high risk of dangerous rip currents.

“Area beach conditions will be very rough and rip currents can be life threatening to anyone entering the water today,” State Meteorologist Amy Godsey said in a written release.  “We strongly urge beachgoers to check the rip current outlook and stay out of the water when red flags are posted.”

According to emergency managers rip currents kill more people annually in Florida than thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes combined. 
 

The state offers these tips:

Whenever possible, swim at a lifeguard-protected beach.
Never swim alone.
Learn how to swim in the surf.  It's not the same as swimming in a pool or lake.
Be cautious at all times, especially when swimming at unguarded beaches. If in doubt, don’t go out.
Obey all instructions and orders from lifeguards. Lifeguards are trained to identify potential hazards. Ask a lifeguard about the conditions before entering the water. This is part of their job.
Stay at least 100 feet away from piers and jetties. Permanent rip currents often exist alongside these structures.
Consider using polarized sunglasses when at the beach. They will help you to spot signatures of rip currents by cutting down glare and reflected sunlight off the ocean’s surface.
Pay especially close attention to children and elderly when at the beach. Even in shallow water, wave action can cause loss of footing.
 

If caught in a rip current:

Remain calm to conserve energy and think clearly.
Never fight against the current.
Think of it like a treadmill that cannot be turned off, which you need to step to the side of.
Swim out of the current in a direction following the shoreline. When out of the current, swim at an angle--away from the current--towards shore.
If you are unable to swim out of the rip current, float or calmly tread water. When out of the current, swim towards shore.
If you are still unable to reach shore, draw attention to yourself by waving your arm and yelling for help.
 

If you see someone in trouble, don't become a victim too:

Get help from a lifeguard.
If a lifeguard is not available, have someone call 9-1-1.
Throw the rip current victim something that floats--a lifejacket, a cooler, an inflatable ball.
Yell instructions on how to escape.
Remember, many people drown while trying to save someone else from a rip current.

Information from the Florida Division of Emergency Management

STUART, FL-- A manatee found in distress in Stuart has succumbed to the chilly weather.

The manatee was discovered at the Harborage Yacht Club and Marina in Stuart.

A team of marine experts tried to save the animal but it died in transit to a rescue facility.

The manatee was underweight and died from exposure to the cold.

JUNO BEACH, FL -- Marine wildlife isn't getting the chance to recover from all this cold air.

Biologists say they are worried, and have been working around the clock to keep certain endangered wildlife alive.

At Loggerhead Marine Life Center, biologists are searching for turtles that are suffering from a 'cold shock', and say they’ve rescued so many, that their tanks are at capacity.

And turtles aren't the only marine wildlife suffering-- Just yesterday a manatee died from exposure to the cold in the Treasure Coast.

Biologists say they've had no luck when it comes to warm temperatures, making it difficult for a variety of marine life out at sea, to survive.

The last cold spell affected about 45-hundred turtles in Florida.

And since nesting season for turtles is just a few days away, less eggs may are making it to shore.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL--Much colder weather settles in across Florida for the rest of the week, with daytime highs in the 60s and overnight lows in the 30s and 40s.

Typically temperatures are in the 70s and 80s.

At noon it was still in the 50s in many South Florida cities.

A freeze warning is in effect for inland Palm Beach County from 5 a.m. until 8 a.m. Temperatures will dip to the low 30s.

Temperatures are expected to reach near or slightly below freezing across Glades, Hendry, Inland Palm Beach and inland Collier Counties according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures will be near freezing mainly along and west of Highway 27 in Palm Beach County.

Crops and sensitive vegetation are at risk.

The following cold weather shelters will be open tonight:

Westgate Community Center Gymnasium, 3691 Oswego Avenue, West Palm Beach.

West County Senior Citizens Center, 2916 State Road 15, Belle Glade.

The Source, 1015 Commerce Avenue, Vero Beach.

River Walk Center (formerly the Fort Pierce Community Center), 600 North Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce.

As northern residents braced for another wallop of winter weather on Thursday, some flights into and out of Florida were being canceled.

At Palm Beach International Airport early Thursday, some flights to and from Newark, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. were canceled.

At Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport a spokesman said T arrival cancelations included
Philadelphia, Newark, Baltimore, Manchester, Pittsburgh and New York. Departure cancellations included Baltimore, Columbus, Denver, Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh, Newark, New York and White Plains.

At Orlando International, an early smattering of cancellations involved flights to and from Newark, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and White Plains, N.Y.

A day after a storm dumped more than a foot of snow, causing tens of thousands of people to lose power and stalling air and rail traffic, weather-weary Northeast residents readied for the repeat -- a second storm packing potentially damaging wind gusts up to 50 mph and possibly more than another foot of snow.

The second part of the two-day, 1-2 winter punch expected Thursday would be "significant and long-lasting," the National Weather Service said.

As much as a foot of snow was expected in Philadelphia, which has had its snowiest winter with more than 70 inches and is still digging out from back-to-back storms around the beginning of this month. The Albany area, which was pounded by Wednesday's weather, can expect more of the same for a second day, and the western Catskills could get up to 20 inches of snow.

Even before a flake fell, the impending storm set off some sharp exchanges among competing forecasters, with one warning of a "snowicane."

The National Weather Service criticized State College, Pa.-based Accuweather Inc. for referring to the storm that way and for saying it would be "hurricane-like" and a "monster." NWS meteorologist Craig Evanego said the terminology was "almost inciting the public, inciting panic."

Accuweather called the NWS criticism "unfounded" and said there's nothing wrong with using language that gets people's attention when the situation calls for it.

Wednesday's storm cut a swath from eastern Pennsylvania into northern New England, blanketing typically snowy regions that had been spared the paralyzing storms that hit cities farther south earlier this winter. By afternoon, some areas around Albany had about 2 feet of wet, heavy snow that clogged snow blowers and stranded pickup trucks trying to plow it out. About 150,000 customers lost power, hundreds of schools were closed and at least three traffic deaths were blamed on the storm.

Utilities warned that more outages could occur.

While Wednesday's storm missed Philadelphia, city residents faced the latest blast of winter with a bit of dread.

"Yeah, I'm kind of tired of it," said Dave Pearson, who was walking a beagle late Wednesday in tony Rittenhouse Square, where much of the grass was still streaked with slushy remnants of previous storms. "We'll see if it happens. I'm tired of it ... we'll have to deal with it."

Sam Sargent said Philadelphia's record-breaking winter is nothing compared to what he saw during three years in Rochester, N.Y. - but that doesn't mean he's happy to see so much of it.

"I left Rochester because I didn't like the snow," the Academy of the Arts photography student said. "I'm ready for spring to come."

The system creating the storm forecast to travel up the Atlantic Coast was causing problems in the South on Wednesday. The weather service issued a winter storm warning through Friday morning for mountainous areas of western North Carolina, where forecasters said up to 10 inches of snow was possible by Thursday evening.

The northern edge of Wednesday's storm reached into Massachusetts' Berkshires, Vermont and New Hampshire, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas and prompting flooding concerns in Maine.

The storm ended a long stretch without a major snowfall in eastern New York and northern New England. The region had avoided much of the severe weather that slammed the mid-Atlantic in recent weeks.

Some New England areas had been forced to cancel winter festivals, dog sled races and snow sculpting events this year due to the lack of snow. At Vermont's Mad River Glen ski area, the storm "was a godsend," spokesman Eric Friedman said.

Associated Press writers Mary Esch, Ron Todt in Philadelphia, Chris Carola in Albany, N.Y., and Mike Rubinkam in Allentown, Pa., contributed to this report.

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL--Shortly after a severe thunderstorm warning was posted in Southeastern Palm Beach County there were reports of hail and strong winds in suburban Lake Worth.

Doppler radar indicated the storm that swept through the county was capable of producing golf ball size hail as well as damaging winds in excess of 60 miles per hour.

The Stimelys in Western Lake Worth said a "crazy hail storm" struck about 10:30 a.m.  They said a fast-moving storm created tremendous bowing rain and dime-sized hail beating on the windows. They said it only lasted 5-to-10 minutes.

Marie Graves e-mailed to say there was also heavy hail at Old Military Trail /Military Trail just north of Okeechobee Blvd in West Palm Beach.

Hail also fell in Martin and St. Lucie County. The Martin County Emergency manger reported ping pong sized hail falling at 12:35 p.m.

2 golfers were reportedly left bleeding from hail that hit them in the head. 

Another viewer sent photos of storm damage from Pelican Pumps at 12181 US Highway 441 in Canal Point.

"Based on other eyewitness reports and pictures, as well as radar features, we're highly confident that it was straight-line "downburst" winds which caused the damage in Canal Point, as well as with the earlier storm in western Lake Worth/Greenacres and West Palm Beach. Based on the measured report of 62 mph at PBIA, we're probably looking at a max of 60-70 mph winds for both storms," said Robert Molleda Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in an email.

There were also reports of wind damage Port St. Lucie.

A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 8 p.m. for Palm Beach County, Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast.

Joran van der Sloot made the statement in a sit-down interview with a television journalist, according to the newspaper De Telegraaf.

However, Aruba's chief prosecutor Peter Blanken told NBC News that the suspect's story was "very unbelievable."

Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., was 18-years-old when she was last seen leaving a bar in the Aruban capital on the final night of a high school graduation trip in May 2005. Her body has never been recovered.

Authorities reportedly reopened the investigation after the alleged confession came to light following the interview, which occurred in August.

"It quickly became clear that this statement is held together by lies and fantasy," the Dutch newspaper quoted Blanken as saying. "Times did not fit and named witnesses mentioned are denying his claims."

The interview was not aired by German broadcaster RTL because of doubts about whether van der Sloot was telling the truth.

Van der Sloot claimed that Holloway had died accidentally and insisted that he did not kill her.

He previously told another journalist that he had dumped her body in the sea.

STUART, FL-- A rainy, blustery day might be bad news for beach visitors, but it didn't hamper two dolphins from a little fun in the surf.

Chopper 5 photographed a pair of porpoises at the Stuart Inlet.

One of them had even made quite a catch. It appeared to have an amberjack in its mouth.

However, from several hundred feet in the air, it was difficult to tell if the dolphin was playing with its catch or ready to make it a meal.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL-- With a chill in the air, shelters will again be open overnight in South Florida.

In Palm Beach County the West County Senior Citizens Center at 2916 State Road 15 in Belle Glade will open its doors for people needing shelter from the cold.

Last night 114 people sought refuge in two of the county's shelters.

Mustard Seed Ministries and St. Lucie County Public Safety officials will open a cold weather shelter at the River Walk Center, 600 North Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce both Thursday, Feb. 18 and  Friday, Feb. 19.

And in Vero Beach, The Source at 1015 Commerce Avenue will open its doors.

WPTV Meteorologist Keenan Smith said winds will continue to blow out of the north and continue to keep our temperatures below average.

Lows overnight will range from the upper 30s in Vero Beach and Belle Glade to the low 40s along Eastern Palm Beach County.

Temperatures should rise into the low 70s by early next week.