Flora-Bama Beaches Send Warning Ahead of Louisiana Spring Break

March is fast approaching and in Louisiana's college towns of Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Monroe, Ruston, Lake Charles, and Greater New Orleans naturally, the minds of students are laser-focused on one thing. "When is Spring Break"? It's that week of fun in the sun, buckets of beverages, and the constant reminder that sand can be uncomfortable when trapped in a swimsuit.

If what we are reading online is correct LSU will take off for Spring Break on March 11th, the University of Louisiana's Lafayette campus will take off on March 25th as will students in Ruston at Louisiana Tech. The student body at McNeese will also take their spring break during the final week in March and the first few days of April.

Alabama and Florida Beaches Preparing Now for Louisiana Spring Breakers

The Redneck Riviera, you know the white sand beaches of Lower Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are the most popular spots for Louisiana spring break visitors. Those municipalities, Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Perdido Key, Pensacola, and others up and down the coast are currently beefing up safety and security for those who come to the shore to relax.

In L.A. (Lower Alabama) the beaches there will employ three times the regular number of lifeguards to cover the beaches during the summer season. Many communities up and down the coast are currently training this summer's crop of life savers. Hopefully, they will never need to use their training.

Gulf Coast Beaches Have This Warning For Louisiana Visitors

Make sure you understand the reality and the real dangers of rip currents. This week has been designated as Rip Current Awareness Week. Those currents took ten lives in two weeks just last year. Some 230 people have lost their lives in drowning incidents along the Alabama and Florida coasts in the past 20 years. Many of those drownings can be blamed on rip currents.

And to make matters worse, the majority of the victims were visitors. In other words, people who were not aware of or were not informed how to properly avoid or negotiate a rip current.

Beach officials in both Florida and Alabama are offering this heartfelt plea and very serious warning to all Louisiana visitors this spring. Make sure you understand what the beach flags mean. Follow the instructions of those warning flags and lifeguards all the time. And always keep an eye on each other, especially when you're in the water.