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Conversely, red flags representing dangerous conditions flew in Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills.
The death sparked questions about whom is responsible for deciding when to post red flags, why the northern beaches did not post them, and if there should be a unified ban on swimming when conditions are dangerous? The answers are different, depending on whom one asks.
A Southern Shores police report said 43-year-old Thomas Purcell of Hardyville, Va., reportedly “had been swimming in the ocean and was found face down in the ocean and unresponsive, victim was brought to shore where he was attended to by EMS and transported to the hospital.”
Kill Devil Hills Ocean Rescue Director T. Mike Morrison said he is a year-round employee of the town, and he hires the lifeguards, who are also town employees. He makes the call when to advise swimmers of dangerous ocean conditions. His assistant, David Elder, is responsible when Morrison is not on the job.
Morrison said the Towns of Nags Head and Kitty Hawk operate similarly, but each town can regulate what kind of guard coverage they want to provide.
The Towns of Duck and Southern Shores hire a private contractor named Sandski for their lifeguard services, provided under Director Mirek Dabrowski.
Morrison said he could not speak for the other beaches, but said in Kill Devil Hills on Monday there was “tremendous shore pound" and a strong lateral current he believed was running from north to south.
“It was just a rough sea and for people being down here vacationing, they don't know how to handle it. Sometimes they don't like being told not to go in the ocean, but it's for their safety. We explain it to them, and they usually just say, okay.”
Morrison said he wasn't up in Southern Shores Monday, and hadn't conferred with Dabrowski, so he did not know if the conditions were the same there, or not. “Each of us has to make a decision,” he said, adding that he favored a more integrated approach to ocean rescue services under the Dare County umbrella, although he didn't think the County would be in favor of it.
Southern Shores Town Manager Webb Fuller said, “The ordinance allows for either the town manager or the police chief to determine whether the flags are flown or not, and it's based on certain environmental conditions, and weather reports, and advice from the ocean rescue director.”
He said on Monday “there was a decision made that we did not see the necessity to put the flags up, and Mirek called me in the morning and told me that other governments in the south were putting them up but he did not see the need for them to go up...” He said the two of them concurred on the decision. He said that he and Police Chief David Kole have to rely on the people on the beach, who have the experience, to help them make the call.
Fuller said it does not make sense to wholsale close beaches, north and south, and the decision should be made “absolutely on a case-by-case basis.” He said in past years there were numerous times when some towns put flags up and others did not.
He also said that red flags mean different things to different towns. In Southern Shores and Nags Head it invokes a law to force people out of the water, while in Kill Devil Hills, for instance, it's just a safety warning.
Additionally, Fuller said he was not aware of any formal initiatives to integrate ocean rescue services up and down the beach, although as long ago as 15 years people have talked about it. “There's always discussions that go on, and those discussions typically go on during elections season.”
Fuller said whether it be a traffic accident or drowning or any tragic situation, “everybody's heart goes out to the family.” He stuck to the decision not to put up the flags after the drowning because “the conditions of the surf in our opinion did not necessitate putting the flags up.”
He said Sandski's three-year contract with the town would expire this year, and the Town Council would determine whether to renew it, or not. He said it hasn't been a point of discussion with the council.
Duck spokeswoman Kathy McCullough-Testa said her town did not raise the flags after the ocean rescue there, either. She said the town has to rely on the people with experience, and Dabrowski “makes a decision based on whether the lifeguards can handle it.”
Duck Mayor Neil Morrison said that although he is “not pleased with the drowning at Southern Shores,” and “very sad to hear about it,” Dabrowski is the expert and needs to make the decision. He said he wasn't sure if Dabrowski confers with Town Manager Chris Layton on these decisions (Layton was out of town on vacation), but the ocean rescue director does not consult with him.
McCullough-Testa said there has only been one drowning in Duck in six or seven years.
Mayor Morrison said the town has provided Sandski with anything they've asked for, year after year, “and I think we have been extremely pleased with his (Dabrowski's) services, and don't see a need to change.”
As far as integrating ocean rescue along the beaches, Mayor Morrison is not in favor of it. He said one reason Duck incorporated was to “come up from under the control of the county.”
Morrison, while saddened by the death, conceded that “sometimes things are going to happen like that.” And in terms of where the buck stops on the decision-making process, he said, “Somebody has to make a decision, and people come here to vacation. The beaches are the main attraction, and that's why they come here, and it's a big decision to close the beaches or not and deny the people access to the water. It's tough. We've never told him [Dabrowski] not to put up the red flags. It's his decision.”
Dabrowski referred all comments to Police Chief David Kole.
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