Two people have died in the waters of the Outer Banks this week: the first death was Monday, Labor Day, and the second happened Tuesday.
On September 4, 28-year-old Ferozan Walizai from Washington, D.C, died near the village of Avon at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
The next day, September 5, a 68-year-old man from Hillsboro, Ohio died in a water-related incident, according to officials with Cape Hatteras National Seashore. It happened off southern Hatteras Island.
Superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, David Hallac, told News 3, “We had some rough surf conditions, we had some larger waves. But those waves are really not rare this time of year. We also know a lot of times, we’ve had individuals in distress in the ocean who lost their lives when the ocean was calm or the rip current risk was moderate to low.”
Hallac added that on Tuesday, “From the Buxton area down to the tip of Hatteras Island where the last fatality occurred, there was not a high risk of rip currents. It was a moderate risk. So it’s very, very important to stress that it is never safe, really, to swim in the ocean at Cape Hatteras National Seashore unless you are an experienced swimmer – and when I say experienced, I mean experienced swimming in the ocean.”
In both incidents, Dare County Sheriff’s Office, Dare County Emergency Medical Services, Hatteras Island Rescue Squad, and North Carolina Highway Patrol responded.
Crews performed CPR but the efforts were unsuccessful.
Jack Scarborough, chief of Hatteras Island Rescue Squad, said they have both volunteers and paid employees and that it’s been a tough week for them losing two people.
One man who was in the area on Monday said there was quite a crowd and “lots of energy in the water.” He also told News 3, “The main issue I saw was people turning their back to the ocean. That’s a rule you should never break: the golden rule.”
Superintendent Hallac recommends everyone check the conditions before swimming. He says a great way to do that is a website Outer Banks has created called lovethebeachrespecttheocean.com.
