Bertha's Rip Currents Turn Deadly

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  -- Storm-driven waves and currents appear to have claimed the lives of three swimmers at the Jersey shore, authorities said Sunday.

One swimmer drowned and another is missing following a Saturday evening swim off the Wildwood beach, while a swimmer died after being rescued from waves in Atlantic City on Saturday afternoon.


Glenn Schuck reports

The National Weather Service said the tricky surf is because of Bertha, now a tropical storm, far out in the Atlantic Ocean and approaching Bermuda.

Coast Guard personnel, using a vessel and a helicopter, searched for the missing swimmer in Wildwood until 7:29 a.m. Sunday, when the effort was halted, Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris McLaughlin said.

``It's beyond the chance of survivability for someone to be out there without a life vest,'' McLaughlin said.

The missing swimmer, Juan Moore, 28, was among three friends who swam toward a buoy about 100 yards off the beach around 7 p.m. Saturday, McLaughlin said. Two made it back to shore, but one was unconscious and was pronounced dead after efforts at resuscitation, he said.


Sonia Rincon reports

Moore was from Philadelphia, as was the man who died, Ismael Lopez, 36, Wildwood police said.

In Atlantic City, lifeguards in a surf boat and in the water came to the aid of a man being carried from shore by a rip current about 3 p.m. Saturday, Beach Patrol Chief Rod Aluise said.

The man grabbed a line thrown from the boat, and lifeguards in the water helped bring the man to the side of the boat, where he was able to hold onto its side, Aluise said.

However, the man suddenly lost consciousness. He was placed in the boat, where resuscitation efforts began, Aluise said. Treatment continued by paramedics when they got to shore, but the man was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, Aluise said. The man's name was not immediately available.

The drownings were first reported by The Press of Atlantic City. Lifeguards farther north tell the Asbury Park Press of Neptune that they have made some rescues of swimmers caught in rip currents generated by waves that are higher than normal.

Surfers, however, are enjoying the larger swells.

Photos by 1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon.

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