Walton Co on Good Morning America

Well, poot! They forgot about sharks, red tide, yellow flies, crowded aisles at the Publix and kids gone wild on golf carts? Someone will lose their job today!

Well, poot! They forgot about sharks, red tide, yellow flies, crowded aisles at the Publix and kids gone wild on golf carts? Someone will lose their job today!

It was a general warning regarding how to escape rip currents, but they had a reporter here interviewing people.

:oops: ...oops, sorry...not in the lounge I see.

:oops: ...oops, sorry...not in the lounge I see.

Here let me do the honors.

<------------To the Lounge. 😀

They are talking about the dangers of Rip Currents at the Beach, in particular, the beaches of Walton Co, which has had many deaths from rip currents.

Ugh, I saw it this morning. They must have said "Walton County" about 10 times, as if we should be listed under "World's Most Dangerous Beaches".

Thank you but I will take our sharks and rip currents over the e-coli and medical waste covered beaches in New Jersey anyday.

I didn't see the show but I hope they balanced the story out by mentioning the flag system on the beach that warns people when the water's not suitable for swimming. AND the signs showing pictures of the rip currents and what to do if you're caught in one?

Mermaid, no balance there. I think they are just looking for a follow up to their storys of Black Sunday last year, regarding the lack of lifeguards. Here are a few stories when I searched GMA's website for Rip Currents.

I think the piece was not so much a negative spin as it was informative regarding the dangers of the water and rip currents. They failed to mention the flag system & the signs warning of rip currents and how to escape. They did mention that since we have stationed the lifeguards in WalCo, there have been no drownings in the Gulf in WalCo, and there have been 8 rescues. They did note that the lifeguards are stationed covering only one mile of the 27 mile stretch of beaches. (it is 27 miles isn't it?:idontno:)

The more people see these types of stories, the more they may respect the potentially deadly waters. Especially, with everyone heading to the beaches this weekend, this story may save several lives.

The more people see these types of stories, the more they may respect the potentially deadly waters. Especially, with everyone heading to the beaches this weekend, this story may save several lives.

:bow: excellent point

and we're lucky, help bring real estate prices back to reality. :roll:

thanks for this important post. i read the gma website on riptides ( thx sj ) and learned what to do if i ever get caught in a riptide. invaluable information.

I saw the GMA piece on rip currents and the video coverage was largely from outside Walton County. At one point as the VO was mentioning South Walton, they were showing the bridge at East Pass in Destin. Believe I'd call that Okaloosa.

In any event, it was less a report about SoWal and more a very well-done explanation of how rip currents are formed and how a potential victim can save their a** if they don't try to overpower the current.

I must say, however, the footage they showed must have been from one of the grayest, dull-water days ever along the Emerald Coast. The surf looked every bit as cloudy as a mid-Atlantic beach. Not a hint of emerald/azure, much less sugar sands. Not exactly a great advertisement for the area -- but, then again, maybe that's a good thing. SoWal? Shhhhhhhh ....

PS - Is anybody else gonna miss Charlie Gibson on GMA as much as me? He was, without a question, the best!

Yep. love Charlie! :wub:

Please start a new thread on Charlie if you like.>>>>>>>>>>>Lounge

Hi Pete:
Maybe it was just the location and the way the sun was hitting the water,the cameras etc. why the water didn't look so green.
Love Charlie too!

if you are down at the beach this 4th , can you make sure my lot does not burn down?! :lol:
Give our regards to your wife........

Ugh, I saw it this morning. They must have said "Walton County" about 10 times, as if we should be listed under "World's Most Dangerous Beaches".

Thank you but I will take our sharks and rip currents over the e-coli and medical waste covered beaches in New Jersey anyday.

:pissed: That is not a fair representation of New Jersey's beaches at all. We visit there occasionally as we live about three hours West, and there is nothing wrong with MOST of the New Jersey beaches, they're just different.

We come to Sowal for vacation, but it is really uncool for you to misrepresent another area's beaches simply to defend your own.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore[/ame]

During the 1970s, the beaches of the Jersey Shore gained a somewhat unsavory reputation for being polluted, popularized in part by incidents of medical waste from Fresh Kills Landfill in New York City washing up on the shore (an example of this is the "Syringe Tide" in 1987). New York was forced to pay for the cleanup after New Jersey took them to court.

I am quite familiar with that. It was ten years ago.....

I have read (on this site, too) about foreign matter and possible bacterias in Florida's beach waters too.....Does that mean it's okay to say that Florida beaches are all bad?

So I still think that it is uncool to respresent that all of New Jersey beaches are "e-coli and medical waste covered." Simply not true. And I'm not a New Jersey beach lover, either.

UTBM:

Chill out. Nobody said all Jersey beaches suck. Some do, some don't. But fact is, the best Jersey Beach couldn't hold a candle to a SoWal beach -- even on a bad SoWal day (if there is such a thing).

So enjoy your hard-packed, brown/gray sand ... your mostly murky water ... your over-crowded weekends ... and your 62-degree water in July. As for me, I'll kick back on our sugar sands, enjoy the emerald/azure ribbons of color and hoist a chilly Corona in your honor -- all the while contemplating the relatively easy trade-off of hurricanes and being in God's Country. Alas, the price of paradise ...

SRP

UTBM:

Chill out. Nobody said all Jersey beaches suck. Some do, some don't. But fact is, the best Jersey Beach couldn't hold a candle to a SoWal beach -- even on a bad SoWal day (if there is such a thing).

So enjoy your hard-packed, brown/gray sand ... your mostly murky water ... your over-crowded weekends ... and your 62-degree water in July. As for me, I'll kick back on our sugar sands, enjoy the emerald/azure ribbons of color and hoist a chilly Corona in your honor -- all the while contemplating the relatively easy trade-off of hurricanes and being in God's Country. Alas, the price of paradise ...

SRP

You tell me to "chill out" and then write that sarcastically toned post directed to me as though they are MY beaches????

I hope you choke on that Corona.