Don't Save Us From Our Selves

W hat happens at local beaches when a tropical storm comes by? These days, they are closed by order of the town manager which means that people are prohibited from going in the water anywhere on the island.

Or does it? Apparently not, because after the closing of the beaches for tropical storm "Bill," it was pointed out the order applied only to beaches actually owned by the Town of Nantucket. It did not apply to any other public or private beaches.

No doubt, the town's insurance coverage plays a role in determining when any town-operated facility is closed in the face of potential natural disaster. Liability for someone getting hurt at a town beach during a tropical storm or hurricane when the town has assumed some risk by providing lifeguards, is not something that any self-respecting insurance company would willingly take on these days.

Another argument, which has a lot of merit, is that anyone in the water under tropical storm conditions puts the responders at risk if he or she needs to be rescued. That argument loses some of its steam, though, when a town lifeguard was surfing on the lifeguard station's rescue board at the height of the wave action from Bill while his colleagues were warning other surfers of the dangers of going in the water.

The situation creates an anomaly: people can go to town-owned beaches and be stopped from going in the water in front of a gaggle of lifeguards on duty, but if they go to any other beach, public or private, they can swim and surf all they want - with nobody watching over them.

The presence of great white sharks off Monomoy Island caused the closing of at least one Chatham beach on Labor Day. The sharks are apparently drawn to the area by the presence of seals, which as one TV newscaster delicately put it, are a "snack" for the sharks.

On Saturday, the nicest day of the summer, there were a fair number of people at Madaket beach and many of them were in the water. And there were no lifeguards to be seen. Apparently they have gone back to whatever they do in the winter. (We do not ask!) So, if Bill had hit this weekend or the sharks had strayed a few miles south, would the beaches have been proclaimed closed, or because the town hadn't assumed any risk by posting lifeguards, would nature have been allowed to work unnoticed?

Basically, it comes down to common sense and an individual's being aware of both the potential danger and his or her own limits. Unfortunately, sometimes swagger replaces common sense, but ultimately people must be accountable for their own well-being.

During Bill, a group of people in Maine observing the crashing of the storm's waves on the rocky coast were hit by a rogue wave which dragged a few of them into the sea. Sadly, a young girl drowned. There was an immediate outcry that more should have been done to keep the onlookers farther away from the waves. Yet reports said that many viewers ignored the cautions of park personnel about the dangers of standing on the rocks.

An op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal noted that the ensuing hue and cry to effectively bar people from a spectacular view of the ocean on the Maine coast contrasted starkly with the conditions found in places like the Grand Canyon or Zion National Park where sane people (well, some people) don't think twice about hiking on canyon trails that offer no protection against a fall.

We are a fearful society and that trait is constantly exploited by our being told over and over what we should do and how not to do it. It is not that drowning in a turbulent ocean or being eaten by a shark are fates to be wished on anyone. Most of the time, most of us are sensible enough to keep ourselves out of harm's way. And, most of the time, we are on our own anyhow.

Then there is the Lyme Disease issue on Nantucket where direction is needed. See the Sunday. September 6, New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes. com /2009/09/06/us/ 06nantucket.html?_r=1 I

The "Lighthouse Keeper" reflects the views of the author and does not represent the editorial position of The Nantucket Independent. Please send any comments to drake@ nantucketindependent.com.