‘Dancing Umbrellas’ video understates inherent danger

A fast-moving, hard-hitting thunderstorm in the area on July 20 scooped up dozens of beach umbrellas and hundreds of thousands of YouTube views as it blew them, parade-like, down the beach at a high rate of speed.

The aftermath of this event is rather simple since no injuries were reported, but people can and have been seriously injured in similar circumstances.

“I tell my guards to treat a blowing umbrella as just as dangerous as someone drowning,” Butch Arbin, captain of the Ocean City Beach Patrol said. “I’ve seen them take off like a rocket. The downtown condos can cause some bizarre drafts and flight patterns.”

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