Emerald Isle beachgoers on alert after man drowns in rip currents

The beach along the coast of North Carolina has been crowded for much of Thursday, but the red flags continued to wave to warn people about the dangers of deadly rip currents.

Emerald Isle has 120 flags planted every tenth of a mile, warning people not to swim.

After a a string of cloudy days, the call of the surf can be irresistible, but as inviting as the water looks, danger still lurks.

For Keith Breedlove and his family, the day before brought a wave of anxiety.

"I heard someone making a loud noise (and) screaming," he said.

Several people were in the water and were in trouble.

"Someone had the good idea to go out there and make a chain of arms and going out into the water," Breedlove said.

The human chain was used to fish swimmers out of the violent surf.

One link in that chain was Amy Kunkle, who saw four swimmers in distress.

Deadly beach season continues as 41-year-old drowns at Emerald Isle

"It was a lot going on," she said. "We all just joined hands and tried to focus and just bring in whomever we could."

Troy Strickland, 41, of Scotchburg, Virginia, died while trying to save a 12-year-old girl.

Others plunged in, including Paul Mahnken, a former U.S..Marine, who got carried away by a rip current as he tried to rescue another swimmer.

"And I pulled him out," Mahnken said. "He was out of the rip current and it caught me on the edge of it and pulled me back out, and he started coming back this way."

On the day after Strickland's death, some beach-goers had to go in despite the red flags.

Parents pointed their kids to shallow water. Police waved daring swimmers back toward the beach.

But two lifeguards were seen leading a man with his boogie board out of the breakers.

Vid Warren was caught in a rip.

"It stinks but I eventually make it," he said.