2 Men Drown at Long Island Beaches, High Rip Current Risk Monday

Two people died and several others were rescued from ocean beaches over the weekend on Long Island as strong rip currents created treacherous conditions for swimmers.

In Long Beach Saturday, police received a call about swimmers in distress at 6:30 p.m.

An off-duty lifeguard quickly rescued one victim, who said his friend was still in the water, police said.

Authorities scoured the area and finally found 23-year-old Kashawn Carlos, who had been submerged in the water for about an hour, cops said. Carlos, of Brooklyn, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Carlos and a friend became caught in a rip current after they chose to go back into the water even though all swimmers were ordered out of the ocean at 6 p.m. when lifeguards went off duty, according to Long Beach Police.

Several hours earlier, another 23-year-old Brooklyn man drowned at Rogers Beach on the East End. Lifeguards at the beach located in Westhampton Beach called 911 and reported that a man was “struggling to exit the water” at 1:40 p.m., police said. Four lifeguards pulled the victim, whose identity has not yet been released, from the water, police said.

He was into cardiac arrest and the lifeguards began CPR, police said. When police arrived, they used an automatic external defibrillator on the man.

The man was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he was pronounced dead.

In addition to the drownings, lifeguards and police have rescued numerous others from the ocean this weekend. At Ocean Bay Park on Fire Island Saturday, Suffolk Police rescued two swimmers from a rip current. And on Friday, at the same beach, police and an off-duty lifeguard rescued three people.

The National Weather Service says a “moderate risk” of rip current development is possible through Sunday evening. And on Monday, things will get even more dangerous on the water. A high rip current risk will be in effect from 2-9 p.m. Monday at all ocean beaches on Long Island.

Rip currents are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away from shore. The NWS advises swimmers to pay attention to flags and posted signs and to swim only in areas with lifeguards.

Find tips on how to avoid rip currents and how to get out of one here.

Photo-Flickr/CreativeCommons/emma.marie