VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Beach conditions at The Oceanfront slightly eased up after Lee made its way up the Atlantic.
Saturday afternoon, on Sept. 16, the beach looked very different than what it did the day prior. Lifeguards had to be in ATVs patrolling the beach in order to keep people out of the water for their safety.
Lifeguards were in their stands watching as surfers and people entered the ocean.
Gary Fench, deputy chief with the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service, told 10 On Your Side that people were allowed to be in the water up to their waist, but surfers weren’t allowed to venture past a certain point.
He said why there was a change in the intensity of the patrolling.
“The ATVs allow us to patrol a little bit more and keep people out of the water because the water was a lot rougher yesterday than it has been today even though today there’s still some dangerous conditions,” Fench said.
Surfer Quinn Rogers said he ran into one of those dangerous conditions.
“It’s definitely a strong current we did get sucked out once, but swam back in,” Rogers said.
Rogers was boogieboarding in the ocean with a couple of friends on vacation from California.
“Last weekend out here we’re like, ‘Why not, let’s hit up Virginia Beach again because it’s fun,'” Rogers said, explaining why they were in the water despite red flags flying signaling dangerous currents.
Rogers said his wasn’t the only group of surfers to be out in the ocean.
“There’s been a lot of surfers,” Rogers said. “When we were out there, there was like a group of seven or eight surfers out there.”
Fench said he believes that beach conditions should be safer by Sunday.
Meteorologist Steve Fundaro basked that up saying the height of waves should decrease significantly, but there will still be a chance for rip currents.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
