Two Bay Area college students died last week after high tides and large waves swept them from a popular California beach while they were napping, officials said.
Harshita Nair, 21, and Mahial Sran, 20, were near an arch known for its keyhole shape, connecting Panther and Yellow Bank beaches near Santa Cruz, on June 10 when fast-rising tides and large waves swept them out to sea, officials said.
The fatalities occurred during a week when California authorities were warning of dangerous conditions at beaches along much of the state’s coastline. The risk for large waves, rip currents and rough seas remains high into the weekend.
The emergency response to look for Ms. Nair and Ms. Sran, both of Fremont, Calif., was the fifth water rescue effort in a month along the same one-mile stretch of coast, which can be treacherous during high or fast-rising tides. It followed the death of a five-year-old girl who was swept into the sea at Laguna Beach, south of Los Angeles, while walking with her mother and a sibling.
According to the San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, crews responded on June 10 around dusk to the area near Panther and Yellow Bank beaches, to reports of a person in the water. By the time crews arrived, officials said, they realized that a second person had also been swept away.
Eight rescue swimmers were able to pull Ms. Nair and Ms. Sran from the water, and both were taken to local hospitals. Ms Nair was pronounced dead the next day, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, and Ms. Sran died on June 13.
In a briefing of the incident posted to Facebook, Kyle Breton, a volunteer captain of the Santa Cruz County Fire Department, said the area is particularly high-risk for sunbathers and beachgoers, as fast-rising tides can quickly strand people on the isolated beach with no way out.
“Both of these patients, we believe, were originally sleeping right at the keyhole, which is an area that we’re finding catches people unaware,” he said of Ms. Nair and Ms. Sran. “People go through the keyhole to get to Yellow Bank Beach, and then they get trapped.”
Videos of the rescue posted by the CAL FIRE San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit show a large group of emergency vehicles parked along the bluffs overlooking the rugged coast, and several rescue swimmers sprinting to the ocean.
They were swept away just as high tide was coming in, said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Monterey, Calif.
During high tide, “the water will come up through that hole in the rock and it will cut off that portion of the beach,” Mr. Garcia said. He added, “The return access can get cut off by the high tide.”
In an obituary posted online, Ms. Nair was recalled as a bright, vibrant young woman who “was truly full of life — radiating energy, warmth, and joy wherever she went. She had a deep love for adventure and embraced every moment with enthusiasm and courage.”
Mayor Raj Salwan of Fremont said that Ms. Nair and Ms. Sran had both attended high school there.
“As our community mourns, I also urge everyone visiting the coast to take ocean warnings seriously. Sneaker waves, strong currents, and rising tides can strike without warning,” he wrote in a post on Facebook this week.
The danger at California beaches continued on Thursday as storm activity in the South Pacific Ocean sent large swells to the state’s coastline. Forecasters warned of sneaker waves that can grow much larger and run farther up the beach than other waves in a set.
“They seem to come out of nowhere and can catch people off guard,” Mr. Garcia said.
Exceptionally high tides, known colloquially as king tides, along the state’s coast reached record levels for the summer in the week that followed the students’ deaths, and have added to the hazardous conditions at beaches. These tides occur when the sun, moon and earth align, and the gravitational pull on the ocean is maximized.
The extreme tides have subsided, but are expected to return in July.
Adeel Hassan contributed reporting.
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