Beach flags on Padre Island are more than decoration — they are a safety system, and knowing what each color means could save your life.
Purple flags warn of venomous marine life like jellyfish or stingrays. Orange signals environmental hazards such as bacteria in the air or water. Yellow indicates moderate surf and currents, and green means low hazard with calm conditions. Red flags indicate the highest risk.
Lacy Quinones, beach safety outreach coordinator for Corpus Christi Beach Rescue, said red flag days call for serious caution.
"Our red flag is going to mean dangerous currents, so our water is moving really fast, heavy surf, so the waves are very large. We strongly encourage no beach patrons to go in past their knees on a red flag beach day."
Hunter Ford, a beachgoer at Padre Island, said he recognized two of the flag colors.
"All I really know is that red is usually bad, so there's a bad rip current, so I usually don't get in, and then that purple means like jellyfish or like other poisonous creatures are around the ocean."
When asked what to do if caught in a rip current, one beachgoer said simply to float — but that is not the right answer.
Quinones said the correct response is to swim sideways, not against the current.
"In order to escape the rip or what we like to call survive the rip, you want to just physically swim out to the sides. You want to get out of that rip current where you're able to swim kind of parallel back down to the shore."
Staying calm is also critical, Quinones said.
"Stay calm if you are caught in a rip current. It can be a very scary situation. Recognize what's happening and then get out to the sides."
Quinones also stressed the importance of never swimming alone.
"Do not go into the water alone. Always use that buddy system. That means you go into the water together, you come out of the water together."
Officials remind beachgoers to pay attention to flag warnings and use the buddy system whenever possible.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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