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July 25, 2009
Ohio man drowns in ocean off Hatteras village
By IRENE NOLAN  A 43-year-old Ohio man drowned in the ocean off Hatteras village on Friday, July 24, when he was caught in a rip current. According to Hatteras Island’s chief district ranger John McCutcheon, the victim was Robert J. Cook of Springboro, Ohio. McCutcheon said a call came in at 5:12 p.m. reporting a swimmer in trouble near the Summer Place subdivision in northern Hatteras village. Responding with the Park Service were the Dare County Emergency Medical Services and the Hatteras Island Rescue Squad. McCutcheon said Cook and members of his group were on the last day of their Hatteras vacation and wanted one last swim in the ocean. Three children in the group started getting pulled out by a rip current. Another adult male in the group, McCutcheon said, went in and brought two of the children back to shore but was too tired by the effort to rescue the third. Cook went out to rescue the third child, who did safely reach shore. Cook, however, was caught in the rip and did not reach safety. Bob Helle, assistant chief of the Hatteras Island Rescue Squad, said that the squad launched personal watercraft to find the victim. Cook was brought to shore by the rescue squad, but efforts to revive him were not successful. McCutcheon said Cook was declared dead at the scene. He also said there were several other calls for ocean rescue on Friday, though there were no other drownings. The National Weather Service is predicting a high threat of rip currents today from Rodanthe to Ocracoke Inlet because of a southeasterly swell from a low pressure area that passed offshore of the islands. For more information on rip currents: http://www.weather.gov/newport http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/faq.shtml http://www.eenaproject.com |
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