Ten years ago on a sunny Sunday in June, tourists and locals crowded local beaches, taking advantage of clear skies after a week of stormy weather.
But under the facade of perfect beach weather, June 8, 2003, became one of the most tragic days in the history of the Emerald Coast. That day is now known by locals as Black Sunday.
On a single day, eight people – mostly tourists – drowned in rip currents. Dozens of others were rescued from the powerful channels of water flowing quickly away from shore by first responders and other beachgoers.
One victim, a well-known former CNN reporter, prompted national attention including an episode on ABC’s “20/20.”
What shocked the nation in the aftermath was that the drownings could have been prevented.
Prior to the summer of 2003, few lifeguards patrolled the beaches and the warning flag system was not uniform.
“June 8 was a really bad day,” said Okaloosa County Beach Safety Director Tracey Vause. “That entire summer was a real eye-opening series of events for us and public safety.
“We had to make changes and implement new systems to influence people’s behaviors.”
Before the summer was over, 22 people had drowned in local waters. That’s when officials started making changes to ensure that the tragedies of 2003 would never happen again.
“We had to pick up the pieces afterwards,” said Dino Villani, public safety director for Okaloosa County. “We had to make major policy changes and emphasize public safety.”
‘The perfect storm’
The week before Black Sunday, a weather system passed through the area keeping tourists away from the beaches until Sunday morning.
Clear skies and warm temperatures for the first time that week drew people to local beaches and into the Gulf of Mexico, despite the visibly rough surf. What they couldn’t see were the powerful rip currents, which few of them knew existed. Even fewer knew what to do if caught in one.
“People were penned up in their hotel rooms and homes, so they didn’t get to go to the beach,” Vause said. “We had almost tropical storm surf and rip currents.”
“It was the perfect storm of circumstances.”
Other factors were an inadequate flag system across the board and a lack of professional life savers who could have prevented people from entering the dangerous waters. The first rescue call came in a little before 10 a.m. and for the next 12 hours, everyone from fellow beachgoers to merchants and first responders were rescuing countless people from the surf.
“I remember getting the phone call from dispatch about the first two drownings, so I left church and headed to the beach,” said Danny Glidewell, a former captain with Walton County Sheriff’s Office. “By the time I got to the beach there had been two more.
“It was surreal to have that many drownings at one time. They didn’t know the danger of the water.”
Almost all of the victims were caught in rip currents.
Glidewell said the biggest problem came when beachgoers went in to rescue someone and then found themselves caught in the rough waters.
“The water conditions were dangerous even for experienced swimmers,” he said. “The rip currents mixed with a heavy weekend, as far as tourists, made for a tragic day.”
Among the victims was a young visiting lifeguard who died attempting to rescue another person. CNN’S Larry LaMotte died, along with Curtis Cohran of Santa Rosa Beach while trying to save LaMott’e son, who survived. Cohran was the only local victim.
While people were struggling to free themselves from the rip currents, beachgoers continued to enter the water.
“To paint you a picture, I was doing CPR on a man ... when a person stepped over his feet to go into the water that I had just gotten that dead man from,” Vause said. “It was one of those things that is surreal. By the time we were getting into drowning number six and drowning number seven, I was thinking, ‘This can’t possibly be real. There cannot be this many fatalities within this short of time’.
“Everything seemed to defy logic that day.”
Educating the public
In the aftermath, public officials and tourism organizations started analyzing what could be done to keep another day like Black Sunday from happening again.
While some beaches had lifeguards, they were employed by condominiums up and down the coast. Their duties ranged from renting beach chairs and umbrellas to keeping an eye on tourists. Law enforcement had only a minimal role in monitoring the beaches.
Beach safety flags appeared sporadically but were not uniform. For example, on one stretch of beach, blue meant calm conditions while green signified the same on another stretch.
Rip currents, although always a presence, were rarely discussed with visitors to the Emerald Coast’s beaches.
In the months following Black Sunday, some water rescue equipment was placed on local beaches, but by the next summer, public safety on the beach had completely changed.
The United States Lifesaving Association National Lifeguard flag system was adopted across the Panhandle on every beach. Signs were posted at access points detailing the meanings of each color, the double red flag was put into place and county ordinances allowing law enforcement to fine anyone disobeying the flag system were adopted.
Lifeguards were trained and placed on the beaches while area tourist development councils worked on educational materials that were placed in hotel rooms and condominiums.
“It was such a tragedy, but setting aside the human pain of that we also had to think about what you do as a community and as a product, a service,” said Jon Ervin, director of marketing and communications with the Walton County Tourist Development Council. “A beach safety committee was created to educate and help build trust back. No one wanted to come to a beach that was thought to be hazardous.”
Joe D’Agostino, beach safety chief with Destin Fire, said he was brought in from Fort Lauderdale to conduct the first professional lifeguard training for the county.
“It makes a huge difference,” D’Agostino said. “We haven’t had a mass drowning day since I’ve been here. And I do know there are some high numbers of drownings on beaches that don’t have lifeguards.”
Safer beaches
Ten years later, the strategies put into place after Black Sunday have been expanded and appear to have made an impact on public safety.
Across Northwest Florida, organized lifesaving systems are in place in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties across 37 miles of beach.
Reports indicate that the tragic deaths did not play a significant impact on the area economically. First responders and TDC officials credit the fast action of making sure beachgoers were safe.
“Tragedies happen, accidents happen, but we feel fortunate that we have a community that cares about safety and that’s been demonstrated over the last 10 years,” Ervin said.
Those involved with the rescues that day say changes made to public safety have saved an immeasurable number of lives. At the time, first responders were frustrated with the scarce number of paramedics, ambulances and water rescue equipment.
“It was a very hectic day. As soon as we made our way back to the station we were being called out again,” said David Darden, an engineer with the Destin Fire Department. “Today, we have medications and equipment for those rescues.
“There’s no comparison. What we have now saves lives versus what we could do back then.”
In the past decade, there have been no mass drownings, despite similar weather conditions.
“I can’t believe that was 10 years ago,” Glidewell said. “I’m sure glad something like that hasn’t happened since. Everybody in positions of responsibility would tell you they’re proud of the things we’ve implemented.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.