By Jordan.Climie@hollandsentinel.com616-546-4279

With warm weather and sunny skies comes the chance, finally, to head out to one of Michigan's beaches to enjoy the summer. Because of this, however,the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is urging everyone to learn about safe swimming and the signs of dangerous currents.

On average, more than 10 people die each year because of dangerous currents in the Great Lakes.Dangerous currents develop when winds blow toward the shore, and waves are moderate to high (three feet or higher). The Great Lakes produce structural currents, rip currents, outlet currents, longshore currents and channel currents all of which can cause serious danger to swimmers.

The eastern shore of Lake Michigan has the most current-related incidents of all the Great Lakes, and out of the 514 current-related incidents (rescues and drownings) that occurred on the Great Lakes from 2002-2016, more than 71 percent were on Lake Michigan.

In that time frame, there were three fatalities and 86 rescues at Holland State Park. At Saugatuck Dunes State Park, there were two fatalities and one rescue. At Douglas Beach Park there was one fatality and two rescues.

To check Great Lakes beach hazards, visitweather.gov/greatlakes/beachhazards.

"The education is the key," said Mike Evanoff, statewide parks and recreation safety officer for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources."We have to train and educate visitorsto look to those resources, because that's why theyre developed.

"We can't be there all the time to try to warn people," he continued. We use the flag warning system, of course, but we really need people to do their part."

Evanoff worries that many people don't take the red flags seriously, which warn of dangerous conditions. "We need people to heed that warning," he said. "There's a reason those flags are posted."

He says that many people use the red flag days as a reason to head to the beach, not exercise safety.

"People tend to look at those red flag days as exciting - high waves, they want to jump in the water," he said. "Unfortunately, many people have lost their lives."

MDHHS encourages all residents to remember the following before planning a trip to the beach:

While it is important to avoid currents altogether, it is equally important to know how to survive one.In the event that you find yourself in a rip current, the MDHHS suggests you flip on your back, float to conserve energy, and follow the safest path out of the water which could be along the line of the current until it is less strong, or along the shoreline.

"Were learning more about how dangerous currents form," Evanoff said. "Weve done some work with professionals, people that are really knowledgable on the science of dangerous currents, and weve learned a lot about behavior of dangerous currents. That's helped us plan to more effectively, manage those conditions and help the education of our visitors and employees."

To learn more about drowning risks in natural water settings, visit https://www.cdc.gov/features/dsdrowningrisks/ or the National Weather Service site at http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/ for information about rip currents.

Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelJordan.

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