VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. —
It’s been over 24 hours since three swimmers went missing after beachgoers saw them struggling to get ashore at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. One of those swimmers washed ashore and was brought to the hospital in critical condition. The search for the others went on for hours on Saturday night and into early Sunday morning.
Virginia Beach EMS, Police, and the U.S. Coast Guard worked together to find them.
"We had our Hawks, helicopters that they launched. They got on scene pretty rapidly to commence search efforts. We also had a Coast Guard Cutter Pompano got on scene." Lt. Mike Long said.
Long is with the Coast Guard Sector Virginia. He says normal water rescues are hard, and the difficulties are amplified at night.
“Because the human eye can't see as far as night, even with lights, it just becomes a lot more, a lot more difficult. So our search patterns become a lot tighter at night to make sure we're covering a search area.” Lt. Long said.
As the operation moved from rescue to recovery. Virginia Beach Police took over marine operations from Virginia Beach EMS.
In a statement, the police explained that they called off the search because “conditions deteriorated from last night to today due to a cold front and rough seas” and that “high winds causing risk to our rescuers was the main issue today.” They added if conditions improve, they may resume recovery efforts on Monday.
Looking to avoid similar situations, Tom Gill, chief of the Virginia Beach Lifesavers Association, stressed what to do if you see someone who may be drowning.
"The first thing to do is call 911 or find a lifeguard if the lifeguards are on duty, but call 911. Do not put yourself in a really dangerous situation," Gill said. "The most important thing for swimmers is to understand the weather and know your limits when swimming in the ocean."