Hurricane Franklin causes rip currents

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - As Hurricane Franklin passes by our coast, beaches like Emerald Isle are seeing rough, high waves and strong winds.

Town manager Matt Zapp says that they put out red flags around the beach, sent out flash flood warnings, and are prepared. “We’d ask that you have all the preparations at home ready to go, so for example, if you need medications, make sure you have an ample supply of a minimum of three days, if you have anything that needs to be refrigerated, have supplies of ice in the event of loss of power,” Zapp said.

As dangerous as the water is, surfers are loving this weather. The waves are bringing out surfers of all kinds.

Jonathan Odom, a surfer, told WITN “Honestly with the geographical location of Emerald Isle, Outer Banks, it’s usually when the swell comes from the southeast that lines up perfectly with our storm…absolutely stoked, moving out to Montana Sunday so I was super glad I was able to catch up on this swell before I leave.”

Beach patrol says surfers who usually come out during stormy conditions are experienced surfers, but they are always prepared for exceptions too.

Rachel Neider, a beach patrol at Emerald Isle shared, “People that come out on bigger swell days, they typically know what they’re doing, and a lot of people come out and they really don’t know what they’re doing, they’ll have a harder time just getting out past the breakers so we’re able to discern that we need to keep an eye out and monitor them just based on how we feel about them.”

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