A Houston man drowned Sunday evening while swimming off Galveston, becoming the island’s sixth drowning victim of 2025. Officials said flash rip currents may have contributed to the tragedy.
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A 39-year-old man from Houston tragically drowned Sunday afternoon near the Galveston coast, marking the sixth drowning incident on the island this year, as reported by the Galveston Island Beach Patrol.
According to Beach Patrol Chief Austin Kirwin, two individuals noticed a man floating face-down in the water, approximately chest-deep, near 14th Street and successfully brought him to shore at around 6:45 p.m. “Clearly, they noticed something amiss, so they took action and brought the individual back to shore,” Kirwin informed Chron on Monday.
As the Galveston Fire Department and EMS crews arrived, witnesses initiated first aid while the professionals took charge of the resuscitation efforts.
According to Kirwin, the man was taken by paramedics to a UTMB hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A family trip to the island took a tragic turn when the victim was reported missing. His mother informed the authorities that she last communicated with him approximately two hours before his discovery.
Kirwin noted that lifeguards were positioned several blocks away, which hindered their ability to respond promptly. “If you look at a map, we had a lifeguard stationed at 10th Street and another at 17th Street, and this individual was essentially positioned right in between them,” he stated. “That’s about a four-block distance; it’s quite a distance.”
The recent incident marks Galveston’s first drowning since June 22. According to Kirwin, the island usually experiences six to eight drownings each year.
Authorities indicated that initial reports suggest the individual was caught in a sudden rip current, a perilous yet erratic phenomenon. “It’s derived from the contours of the sand below,” Kirwin clarified. “When the sand is fairly still and we experience a surge of water energy, all that water needs to find a path … it generates a rip current through the sand and then flows back out.”
Despite the water looking serene earlier in the day, the beach patrol changed the safety flags from green to yellow before the drowning incident. Kirwin noted that these conditions may still result in hazardous currents. “Whenever wave action and energy increase, as we saw yesterday, flash rip currents can suddenly appear in various spots along the beach,” he stated.
Kirwin advised swimmers to exercise caution, even when the surf appears mild, and to remain near areas monitored by lifeguards.
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