Why are rip currents dangerous?

(WHTM) – With the Fourth of July holiday weekend upon us, some people may be heading to the ocean and beaches to celebrate.

But before heading to the beach, revelers might want to take a moment to check out the conditions of the local surf, to help minimize any risk of getting stuck in a rip current while swimming.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a rip current is a strong narrow seaward channel of water that flows away from the beach and often extends through the breaker zone where waves are formed.

Sometimes incorrectly called a rip tide, a rip current can form at any beach with breaking waves and can quickly sweep away even the strongest swimmer.

They form, for the most part, in regions with less wave-breaking, or where waves are stuck between regions with larger wave breaks. You can see a rip current as a darker, narrow gap in the line of breaking waves.

Rip currents are very fast, moving at speeds of up to 8 feet per second. A usual rip current ranges between 50 to 100 feet wide, and can extend up to 300 feet from the shoreline.

If you get caught in a rip current, do not panic.

NOAA advises that you remain as calm as you can, float with the current and call for help. Do not try to swim against the current. Instead, you want to swim out of the rip, parallel to the shore, along the beach, and then follow breaking waves back to shore at an angle.

Before heading to the beach, always check local beach conditions as well as the wave forecast. Rip currents can form in many different types of weather.

NOAA also says that rip currents often occur during low tide, so you should check the tide schedule before you hit the beach.

At least 10 people have been recent victims of dangerous rip currents along Gulf of Mexico beaches stretching across Florida's Panhandle to Mobile, Alabama, including a firefighter from Georgia and two fathers who drowned while trying to save their children. Since mid-June, there have also been six deaths around Panama City Beach in Florida alone.

Many of the deaths happened on days with double red flags — which are posted at beach entrances and on lifeguard stations to warn beachgoers of potential rip currents.

Nearby, in Destin, Florida, ex-NFL quarterback Ryan Mallett, 35, drowned Tuesday, but local officials said rip currents weren't observed — and that day, yellow caution flags, not double red flags, were flying at the beach.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.