HOLLAND, Michigan — Labor Day is typically the last big beach weekend of the summer. One lakeshore township is prepared to save lives from potential dangers in the water.
The National Weather Service issued a warning for this weekend, a potential for dangerous waves and currents. Laketown Township this week got ahead of the game, installing new safety measures at one of its beaches.
"These rip currents can become nasty," says Tom Shuff, chairperson for the Laketown Township parks commission.
The NWS says shifting winds could push wave heights to four to six feet.
Throughout the summer, there have been several deaths caused by rip currents on Lake Michigan.
"It'd be one and in Grand Haven, well, that's right up the road," says Shuff. "Could be one in South Haven, right down the road."
Shuff, though, is thankful none have happened at one of their beaches.
"We hope and pray that we never have that at our park," he says.
To prevent that, they decided to be proactive.
This week, the township installed new signage warning of rip currents, as well as a life preserver at Laketown Beach.
And Shuff says its only the beginning of safety discussions.
"Maybe we need more, I don't know, but we're starting," says Shuff. "This is a start."
He says ideally, they want a lifeguard like on ocean beaches. But right now, it's just not possible.
"Our budget is so strained that we can't even, you know, it's hard for us to hire a policeman," explains Shuff.
He just hopes over the holiday weekend, people will take the lake seriously.
"They'll say, oh, that happens at the ocean, that's not going to ever happen here," says Shuff. "But 38 deaths this summer. That's almost a catastrophe."
The NWS says to be especially careful next to the sides of piers this weekend. They predict the highest swim risk will be north of Muskegon, with a moderate risk everywhere else.
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