Belmar Mayor Says 35 Rescued From Turbulent Ocean Over The Weekend

BELMAR, NJ - Mayor Matt Doherty is getting frustrated with the number of people who continue to enter the Atlantic Ocean, ignoring the warnings of local officials and weather forecasters to stay out of the water.

"Today Belmar PD told children not to go into the water because its dangerous only to have some parents override and tell their kids to go in," Doherty said on Twitter.

Doherty on Friday forbid swimming on Belmar beaches after a man drowned in Long Branch and a woman died after a water rescue in Asbury Park.

Doherty said on Sunday evening that 35 people had been rescued from the rough surf just on Sunday.

The dangerous surf conditions have been present for more than a week up and down the Jersey shore. The National Weather Service has repeatedly warned of the high risk of rip currents and wave heights much higher than normal.

But this past weekend was sunny and warm and many apparently chose to ignore the warnings.

The U.S. Coast Guard pulled five people from the choppy waters off the 4th Avenue beach in Belmar late Saturday afternoon.

Rescue swimmers from the Long Branch Fire Department pulled a man from the waters off the unguarded beach at Seven Presidents Park on Saturday evening, after receiving a report about a swimmer in distress off the county oceanfront park, according to app.com.

It was the second drowning on the Jersey Shore in three days. Erin Higgins, 42, Harriman, New York, died Thursday after she was rescued from turbulent surf off an unguarded beach in Asbury Park.

Doherty said that people who ignore the warnings put not only their own lives at risk, but the lives of their rescuers.

"I am starting to become disillusioned with people not paying attention to the municipal officials, to the media, to the National Weather Service, and taking a huge risk," he told app.com.

The dangerous ocean conditions are expected to continue into next week, as Hurricane Maria inches slowly northward.

"Day after day we’ve been talking about this," said Walter Drag, a meteorologist at the Mount Holly Station of the National Weather Service told app.com. "Admire the beaches. Love the seashore. Pick the shells, but stay out of the water, or no more than ankle deep.”

Officials with Manasquan's Office of Emergency Management said on Twitter that the borough's Fire Rescue boat rescued two more people Sunday afternoon.

Photos: Belmar Mayor Matthew Doherty