FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A red flag warning was cautioning swimmers about dangerous surf at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park, where waves between four and six feet we're crashing along the shoreline Wednesday.
Fort Pierce Inlet State Park was among several beaches in St. Lucie County under a red flag high hazard warning. The conditions are tied to a low pressure system off the eastern U.S. coast in the mid-Atlantic.
"The sea was angry today my friends," Fort Pierce resident Lee Bertucelli said.
St. Lucie County Ocean Rescue says conditions like these make it more important than ever to swim at a lifeguarded beach. There are two in St. Lucie County, at Pepper Park and Waveland Beach. Officials say both will likely be flying red or double red flags for the next few days.
"It was very windy and very choppy and it's really challenging because you have to negotiate all of the chop," foil surfer Lisa Rose said.
"I went in, not with my surfboard, but like, to my waist and it's just, it's rough and it's just not super safe for like — I'm sort of a beginner so not safe for me, but like, some of the other surfers have definitely been out," surfer Jodi Riley said.
"I went in, you know, not too far. The waves were fun, but again not too far, didn't want to deal with rip tides or anything else," Bertucelli said.
The county says rip currents are possible in these conditions. If you find yourself stuck in one, Ocean Rescue says don't panic and swim parallel with the shoreline.
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