I have been traveling to beaches since I was little and learned that there are different flags and places for important information to be posted. (I often travel during hurricane season, so it pays to be "weather aware".) Made my first trip to SoWal (Miramar Beach) May 2012. We saw the flags on the drive to our condo and there on the little bulletin board in our rental was the legend. Easy enough to follow. When we went to the beach on the first day we took the time to read the details of the various flags and knew what to expect. By the end of the week I had found info on TV and internet for daily beach conditions. I grew up in a tourist area (near a very large lake) and I just think *some* people check their common sense at the door when they are on vacation. Unfortunately - that causes something that should be fun to end in tragedy.
Sowal Visitors, how did you learn about the beach flag system?
- Thread starter SneakyPete
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Does anyone know what happened to the Beach Ambassador program? I think reading a sign or seeing a magnet in the room is all well and good. However, having someone walk up to visitors to give out a brochure and point out the dangers might be a more direct approach. We need to do whatever it takes to inform our guests and save lives.
We learned about the flags by reading the large sign at the beach access. There has also been info on the system in every rental house we have vacationed in. I do remember a few summers ago a volunteer (?) asking beach goers if they were familiar with the flag system and also asking if they adhered to the warnings.
Note to Walton TDC: bring back the "Seemore the Safety Crab" TV commercials on local channels and cable...quickly.
Kids and parents seemed to pay attention to them, whick helped them understand the flag system. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Seemore TV commercials were all replaced with beach safety commercials featuring a radio talk show host from Ohio named Brian Wilson...a talking head who comes across as boring and does nothing to get the kids' attention.
On a positive note, let's give the SWFD kudos and gratitude for flying double-red flags the past several days. Bay and Okaloosa chose to fly single red flags part of those days. We took a quick survey today and 100% of the parents felt our all of beach counties should not hesitate to fly double-red more often to help keep visitors safe.
Kids and parents seemed to pay attention to them, whick helped them understand the flag system. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Seemore TV commercials were all replaced with beach safety commercials featuring a radio talk show host from Ohio named Brian Wilson...a talking head who comes across as boring and does nothing to get the kids' attention.
On a positive note, let's give the SWFD kudos and gratitude for flying double-red flags the past several days. Bay and Okaloosa chose to fly single red flags part of those days. We took a quick survey today and 100% of the parents felt our all of beach counties should not hesitate to fly double-red more often to help keep visitors safe.
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I think that most people know the flags are for a reason, though they may not always know what color means what. On-going education is definitely needed! Unfortunately, most messages need to hit home. Letting people know the realities of ignoring the flags....letting people know when there is a drowning...is also paramount.
I thought the South Walton Fire Dept. determines the beach conditions, flag changes, and trains the lifeguard staff, not the TDC? I did a quick search and can't find where the TDC participates here, other than share the flag safety stuff. Do they help fund the lifeguard program?
I was discussing this with my wife tonight. If I went to mars and there was a cave....if it had a red flag I would not go...if it had a yellow flag I would proceed with caution...if it had a green flag I would proceed with no worries...we both learned this at any early age as I am sure everyone on this forum did too.
I agree that other than the purple WTF?e, it seems like the matched beach flags with stoplight colors should make sense at some sort of gut level. But it's apparently not the case.
I have taken to calling the renters at our cottages when they arrive to welcome them, to find out if they need anything and if everything's OK at the cottages, and to remind them to take the flag system seriously. I let them know that in my experience (from what I've read on this board over the years), it's usually adult men who get in trouble, in part because they heroically go in the water to save others who ignored the flag system or because they wrongly think they're strong enough to avoid getting pulled by the rip tides. I spoke with guests today and they said they went to the beach, stayed out of the water, but there were plenty of people in the ocean despite the double red flags.
EXCELLENT! I will put that in the cottages as part of the onepage info I will give to renters when they check in (e.g., on the refrigerator - maybe I'll put it on a fridge magnet).