Hurricane Erin, a Category 4 hurricane, is not expected to make landfall anywhere in New England.
But along the Massachusetts coast, authorities are closely monitoring the storm’s progress.
“What’s the water like right now?” Boston 25’s Bob Ward asked Jillian Boyle, the Recreational Facilities Supervisor at Westport’s Horseneck Beach.
“The water, this is calm before the storm,” she said
Boyle tells me she is closely watching out for Powerful Hurricane Erin.
Horseneck is already known for its rip tide risk
Hurricane Erin is likely to raise that risk.
“We’re south-facing, so with that big surf from Hurricane Erin, we’re going to get rip currents that are created with that,” Boyle said.
Regular beachgoers are cautious
“The current is so strong that it can just throw you away, way deep into the water,” Rosemary Rescendes of Dartmouth said.
“It’s like you’re swimming and all you can do is swim in that one area. You can’t get past anything, you just, you’re stuck in it,” Jennifer Russel of Taunton added.
Jillian Boyle tells me, for the rest of the week at Horseneck, pay attention to the color of the warning flags.
Green means low risk of rip tide while red means high risk.
And if you must swim, be alert.
“The biggest thing I can say to swimmers is: ‘swim where there are lifeguards, swim in guarded water,’” Boyle said..
Or you can do what Maureen Igoe of Arlington plans on doing.
“I’m more than willing to stay land-bound for a couple days, that’s ok with me. I’ve lived this long, I might as well live a little longer,” Igoe said.
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