Island officials warn of dangerous conditions on Breach Inlet after two people drown

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – As the weather warms and more people head to Lowcountry beaches, officials are reminding everyone to comply with posted signage and to be careful about where they swim.

It comes after two people died Tuesday, after crews retrieved them from Breach Inlet.

Breach Inlet has historically been a dangerous place to swim because of the rough current. It is against the law to go in the waters, but rescue crews have pulled many people out over the years.

“This is one of the locations where, at high tide, a lot of water is coming into the marshes and at low tide, we have a lot of water leaving, and that’s what creates these extremely dangerous currents,” said Joe Henderson, Sullivan’s Island Town Administrator.

“Breach Inlet is a well-known area, and anyone who has grown up here or been here for several years knows how dangerous that inlet is and why it’s dangerous to swim there. We’ve had multiple water rescues there and, unfortunately, some tragic deaths as well,” said Sgt. Matt Storen, the Isle of Palms Public Information Officer.

A man and a woman were pulled from the water Tuesday afternoon at Breach Inlet. Crews from Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island know that seconds count in this dangerous area and quickly jumped into action.

“We had an officer on scene within one minute of the call going out. It takes a few minutes to launch the jet skis, but several minutes later, we had the rescue jet skis in the water, so under five minutes,” said Storen.

Both people were unconscious when pulled from the water. Emergency crews performed CPR, and EMS took them to the hospital, but neither survived.

Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island Officials are reminding people to heed the warning signs posted around both sides of the inlet.

“We don’t want to have another incident like this again. Pay attention to the posted signs. If you want to come to the beach, please consider going between Stations 16 and 32. It’s okay to go to the beaches in other areas, but where it’s posted, and where we have dangerous currents, please stay out of the water,” said Henderson.

The two people have yet to be publicly identified.