National Media Event: May 24, 2004

Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.)

Good morning and welcome. I am very excited to be here in beautiful Wrightsville Beach. The citizens of Wrightsville Beach have a long history of being very civic minded--mere months after the town was incorporated they were forced to respond after the great hurricane of 1899 decimated the island. Several other hurricanes have had the same effect since and each time the citizens of this town come together to help each other out and rebuild.

It is that spirit of community and civic responsibility that brings us here today to announce a national campaign aimed at nothing less than saving lives lost unnecessarily each year to rip currents. As part of National Beach Safety Week, we are unveiling with our partners a national media campaign aimed at educating beach-goers about the dangers of rip currents and informing them when those dangers are greatest.

NOAA could never do these important ventures alone and today I'm proud to celebrate a successful partnership with the United States Lifesaving Association. I also want to thank, Assistant Administrator of the National Weather Service Brig. General D.L. Johnson, and North Carolina Sea Grant Director Ron Hodson for joining us for this important event (Any other congressional/state folks too).

This morning you will see how NOAA touches peoples' lives every day. You will hear about rip currents, the work that NOAA is doing to learn more about rip currents, the heroic efforts of our nation's lifeguards, and a moving personal story that demonstrates how rip currents affect individuals and families.

On average, rrip currents cause more deaths than hurricanes, or winter weather, or tornadoes, or shark attacks and are third only to heat stress and flooding in terms of weather- related deaths. At least 100 lives annually are lost to this dangerous problem and they account for 80 percent of all surf rescues each year.

At NOAA we strive everyday to help science gain value for each and every taxpayer in America. One of our major goals in achieving that mission is to better serve society's needs for weather and water information. Our research team has worked very hard to improve our ability to make rip current forecasts. For example, NOAA's Ocean Service, the National Weather Service and the University of North Carolina-Wilmington recently joined together to install a new tidal and wave gage station on the nearby Johnny Mercer Pier--an observation point that will assist in the development of more accurate and timely warnings for hurricanes, other ocean storms, and coastal flooding. The wave gage -- our experts tell me -- is the perfect equipment needed for enhancing rip current predictions.

All this science does not gain value until we get the information into the hands of the people that need it most. In this case, that means reaching the 141 million people who live and work in coastal areas and the 90 million who vacation in them. NOAA already issues Rip Current Threat outlooks in some coastal areas free of charge online to citizens.

This information is vital, but clearly we can do more especially by educating the public on the dangers of rip currents. That is why I am proud to be here today to announce this important new campaign. The alliance gathered here today will work to promote rip current awareness throughout the Nation. Together we will work to deliver a unified and consistent public educational message on rip currents.

No one would send little leaguers onto the baseball field under the threat of a lightening storm and swimming in the ocean when the risk of rip currents is high should be no different.

I know each partner in this venture is as proud of it as NOAA is. This project promotes safety while demonstrating the critical role of community outreach through both education and extension. As part of this campaign we are promoting the use of our website so that citizens can receive detailed rip currents information and have developed a brochure to explain the dangers of rip currents to people.

Finally, I'm pleased to unveil this sign to be posted at public beaches, which will provide a quick lesson in rip currents for all who visit the beach. Combining all these products, we believe we are providing the necessary tools for the public to enjoy a safe day at the beach. Our hope is that every ocean and Great Lakes community will utilize these materials and services. To help, we are making the sign and brochure template available for communities and individuals to reproduce. They are found our new website: www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov.

In closing I'd like to briefly thank our partner, USLA and thank the North Carolina Sea Grant folks for their work here on the ground. Special thanks go to UNC-TV for helping us spread this important information and to Time Warner for their generous donation of time and equipment.

Safety is one of the most important priorities at NOAA. If this project allows us to educate more people or save lives from rip currents then we can truly say that we have gained value from the work we have done.

Thank you all again for coming today. To continue the story of this valuable partnership I'm pleased to welcome my friend Jim Lushine from NOAA's National Weather Service.