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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Rip currents can happen on any beach with breaking waves, but become a more widespread problem with landfalling tropical systems.

Rip currents can pull you straight out from the shore.(wsmv)

You can’t see them, at least most of the time, but they’re a very real threat. Rip currents are responsible for many fatalities year in and year out.

Although the Midstate is landlocked, meaning we do not have any beaches here, the Gulf Coast beaches are a very popular destination for our residents. Knowing what to do if caught in a rip current can truly save your life.

So how do you know if you’re caught in a rip current? Rip currents pull you straight out, and due to the force of the water pulling you, you may feel like you’re sinking.

If caught in a rip current, here are some tips you should follow:

Knowing what to do if caught in a rip current can save your life.(wsmv)

Swimming parallel to the shore might be the most important thing to note here. Due to the nature of a rip current, and the way they pull you straight out, swimming hard parallel to the current is the best way to get out of it.

When it comes to landfalling storms, like Hurricane Beryl, the rip current risk can stretch for hundreds of miles along the coastline as tropical storms and/or hurricane wind fields can churn the ocean’s surface creating turbulent patterns that lead to rip currents.