August 18,  2009




A grandfather from Virginia drowned yesterday, Aug. 17, off Ocracoke when he tried to rescue two grandchildren from a rip current.

The incident happened north of Ramp 67 about 12:30 p.m.

According to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Chief Ranger Paul Stevens, Stanley Dye, 74, of Amissville, Va., went into the ocean to help his two grandchildren, ages 15 and 8, who were apparently caught in a rip current.

Stevens said the grandchildren were able to get back to shore, but that Dye couldn’t make it back.

His wife went out to him with a boogie board to keep his head above water, and a second woman also went out to help bring him to shore.

Stevens said Dye was not breathing when the women reached the beach with him and that two doctors who were on the beach started CPR immediately.

Dye was pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m. at the Ocracoke Health Center.

Dye’s death is the fifth water-related death this summer on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. However, it is only the fourth drowning.

Stevens said the death of a 64-year-old Kitty Hawk woman who was pulled from the ocean on Bodie Island in June was cardiac related.

The other three are considered drowning deaths, he said.  They include the deaths of a 87-year-old man from Pennsylvania near the Frisco Pier in June, a 70-year-old visitor from Pennsylvania near the Rodanthe Pier over July 4 weekend, and a 43-year-old father from Ohio on the Hatteras village oceanfront, also in July.

The drownings, Stevens said, are all thought to be rip-current related.

Rip currents are powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from shore. They typically extend from the shoreline, through the surf zone, and past the line of breaking waves.

Most people who drown in rip currents are exhausted by trying to swim into shore against the current. 

“Rip currents are the number one threat to visitors at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore,” Stevens said.

He added that the park works with Dare County Emergency Management, rental companies, motels and campgrounds, and other groups to get the word out about the danger of the rip current.

“If visitors are unfamiliar with swimming in the ocean, they definitely need to swim at a lifeguarded beach,” Stevens said.

Until Labor Day, there are lifeguards at Coquina Beach on Bodie Island, The Old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse site in Buxton, and at the day use area on Ocracoke.

Stevens said there were no drowning deaths on the seashore in 2008.  There were seven in 2006, and eight in 2007.



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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