Rip currents plague Florida beaches

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 22 (UPI) -- Hundreds of swimmers have been pulled from rip currents by lifeguards at Central Florida beaches during the last three days, officials say.

Beach-goers in Volusia County were warned by officials that dangerous conditions would remain for awhile longer, WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., reported Monday.

The lifeguards said they rescued about 100 people from the rip currents Sunday and more than 200 Saturday as residents flocked to the beaches to escape a relentless heat wave during which Central Florida temperatures have reached the mid- to upper-90s.

"You could be walking around in waist-deep water, you step in a little pothole and you're in chest deep water, you're going backwards, and a whole family -- we just did a rescue in front of our station -- the whole family just got pulled out," Scott Petersohn of the Volusia County Beach Patrol told WKMG.

Petersohn blamed heavy surf over the past month for causing the hundreds of rip current channels.