“…Inexperienced swimmers who are trapped by a rip current and transported to deeper water offshore often attempt to swim against the current directly back to shore at the risk of exhaustion, panic, and drowning unless rescued(Miloshis and Stephenson, 2011). In the United States, drowning associated with rip currents causes 80% of surf rescues and about one hundred death each year, more than the annual death from the combination of tornadoes, sharks, hurricanes and lightning strikes(Gensini and Ashley, 2010;Miloshis and Stephenson, 2011).Great progress has been made in the past fifteen years to understand the pattern, dynamics, and formation of rip currents(Castelle et al, 2016b;Dalrymple et al, 2011;MacMahan et al, 2006), develop and evaluate escape strategiesMcCarroll et al, 2014;Miloshis and Stephenson, 2011), and examine the rip current knowledge of beach visitors and rip survivors(Drozdzewski et al, 2012;Fallon et al, 2018;Sherker et al, 2010). Yet, few studies have quantified or classified the severity of rip current hazards to human beings, which is essential for public education of rip hazards and operational warning of the risk by beach safety practitioners Lushine (1991).…”