CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. — While you’re at the beach this summer, lifeguards want you to pay extra attention to the weather and know what to do when a storm rolls in.
On any given day this summer, hundreds of people will flock to our coast and spend a day at the beach.
"We were just having a dinner, and within five minutes, the storm just started rolling in,” said Ashley Guilds.
WATCH: Lifeguards, meteorologists offer advice for safety at the beach with summer thunderstorms
The same rings true that any summer afternoon, you could expect to see stormy skies.
“When we see the clouds come in or we see the lightning, we don't mess around,” said Aaron Melvin.
Melvin and his family take no chances.
"We just pack up and move on to make sure we have plenty of time to get out of the way,” said Melvin.
Just over the last few days, lightning has left its mark in a handful of incidents where lightning injured people at the beach around Florida.
"Generally, it renders a person unconscious and in cardiac arrest,” said Patrick Brafford, the Beach Lifeguard Manager for Clearwater Fire and Rescue. “That's one of your worst-case scenarios."
Brafford said if the weather changes quickly and there's lightning, lifeguards will warn people.
“They're also going to close the water, and we'll make several announcements to people so that they'll know that, but people need to have a safe place to go,” said Brafford. “Staying out on the beach, underneath the pier, underneath cabanas, umbrellas, or just out in the open is not a good idea, and it's not a safe place. A safe structure is off the beach, find a building somewhere. If you don't have a building, your car."
Brafford suggests having a plan, a designated weather watcher, and being aware of the forecast.
That's echoed by ABC Action News Meteorologist Ally Blake.
"If the clouds start to look a little dark, maybe start to pack up a little early. I know a lot of people might not want to, but it could really save your life,” said Blake. “A lot of times, lightning can strike well away from the storm, up to 15 miles. The sun might be out, the sky might look nice, but a strike could still come either to you or to ground, and you could be affected by it."
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