Father of 3 dies saving kids from Florida rip current

Ryan Jennings, 46, died on April 1, 2026, in a rip current off Juno Beach. The Maine resident was visiting Palm Beach County with his wife, Emily, and their three children, seen here, and rescued two of his children from the current before his death.

A Maine family’s Florida beach vacation took a tragic turn last week, when a father of three drowned while saving his children from a rip current off the coast of Juno Beach.

And Florida’s East Coast isn’t the only part of the state facing rip current risks. Today, Tuesday, April 7, the National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Mobile posted a warning to “Avoid the Gulf.”

Here’s what we know about the recent rip current drowning in Juno Beach, where there are high rip current risks in Florida this week and how to spot a rip current from the beach.

Maine father of 3 dies in Florida rip current

Ryan Jennings, 46, was a marketing executive visiting his parents in South Florida with his three children and wife.

On April 1, just before 3:30 p.m., Jennings and his children were swimming in an unpatrolled area near a beach access just south of the intersection of Donald Ross Road and Ocean Drive, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and The Palm Beach Post. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue pulled four people to shore, and three were sent to hospitals.

According to a GoFundMe posted on behalf of Jennings’s widow, Emily, he was attempting to rescue two of his children from a rip current when he became caught and drowned.

“Emily Jennings is a devoted mother of three children who has always put her family and friends first,” the post says. “Today, her world changed forever when her husband, Ryan, tragically lost his life while saving two of their children from a rip tide in Florida.”

As of 2:15 p.m. ET on April 7, the GoFundMe is 85% funded, with $212,423 of the $250,000 goal raised.

Rip current warnings in Florida this week

The Mobile/Pensacola National Weather Service office posted a message on April 7, warning of high rip current risk in the Gulf this week.

According to the rip current statement, there is a high rip current risk from today, April 7, through the night of Thursday, April 9. On Friday, April 10, the risk level drops to moderate and will drop again to low risk by Saturday, April 11.

The affected Florida beaches listed on the rip current statement are Pensacola Beach, Navarre Beach, Fort Walton Beach and Destin.

And rip currents aren’t the only dangerous weather conditions affecting Florida’s Gulf Coast this week. Escambia and Santa Rosa counties are under several other weather warnings and advisories, including a gale warning, red flag warning and high surf advisory.

Most of Florida’s East Coast is also at high risk for rip currents on April 7, with a “high risk” all the way from Jacksonville Beach down to Boca Raton, according to an NWS chart showing the rip current risk around the whole state.

What is a rip current? What causes rip currents?

Rip currents are powerful channels of water that flow quickly away from shore. They’re usually found at low spots or breaks in sandbars and near structures like jetties or piers.

Rip currents can easily be seen from the shore with the naked eye, but you have to know what to look for. And they’re much more difficult to see when you’re in the water.

Since rip currents are an effect of underwater geography and water flow, they aren’t tied to the weather. Stormy weather can cause rip currents to form, but they’re just as likely on bright, sunny days at the beach. Rip currents can be found at any beach with waves, at any time.

“Measured at speeds up to 8 feet per second (more than 5 miles per hour), rip currents can be faster than an Olympic swimmer,” NOAA says.

Is undertow the same as a rip current?

No. Rip currents and undertow are not the same thing.

“Undertow is a term used to describe the current beneath the surface when waves are breaking upon the shore,” NOAA says. “Undertow is often mistakenly used to describe rip currents. It is also often associated with the strong backwash after breaking waves.”

What does a rip current look like on the beach?

“To check for rip currents at the beach, stand back from an elevated position, like a dune line or beach access, and look for places where waves are not breaking,” NOAA says.

These signs can indicate that a rip current is present, according to NOAA:

A channel of churning, choppy water
An area of water that is a notable difference in color
A line of foam, or debris moving steadily offshore
A break in the incoming wave pattern

In May 2025, the USA TODAY Network – Florida spoke with Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Deputy Billy Crocker, who helped rescue three children from a rip current and resuscitated an 8-year-old girl who’d taken on water in her lungs at Huguenot Memorial Park in Jacksonville.

“Sometimes the rip will actually take the foam that’s up by the shore, created from the waves crashing, and suck it into that rip current and you’ll get a foam line that will trail into that rip current,” Deputy Crocker said.

“And you can see that foam line, too. It’s really imperative that a person educates themselves when they go to the beach that not only (are) there creatures in the water, but something actually more dangerous – the water itself.”

Contributing: Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post; Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Father of 3 dies saving kids from Florida rip current. What to know

Reporting by Lianna Norman, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect