Lifeguards in California wiped out from extreme weather-related rescues - Taipei Times

BAD TIMING:

Many are heading to the beach for a dip, but swells, reaching as high as 1.8m, due to hurricanes off Mexico have been slamming the shore for weeks

AFP, MANHATTAN BEACH, United States

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In California, repeated heat waves have sent Americans running to the beaches to seek relief, but more and more swimmers are finding themselves in troubled waters as strong waves whip the coast and fuel powerful rip currents. Last weekend, lifeguards in Los Angeles County performed a record 1,950 ocean rescues — numbers that lifeguard captain Pono Barnes called “staggering.”“To kind of put that in perspective, a busy summer weekend is usually in the 300 rescue range, 500 on the high end,” Barnes said on Manhattan Beach.Since the start of last month, California has been at the mercy of successive searing heat waves, with the mercury sitting at 30°C to 35°C, and even hotter inland.