Learning from "Eena"

Last fall, a lady named Kristina was vacationing on the Outer Banks with her family, including her young nephew who called her "Eena". They were here, in part, to celebrate his second birthday. Kristina and her family had vacationed on the Outer Banks many times, so she was familiar with the area and had swum in the ocean here before. She had never, however, been educated about rip currents. She got caught in one and unfortunately drowned.

Her family started "The Eena Project" to inform visitors to the Outer Banks about the dangers of rip currents. The project has created brochures, refrigerator magnets, and DVDs to educate people visiting the area (they have provided these materials at no charge to hotels, B&Bs, and vacation home rental companies in an effort to ensure the information gets to as many visitors as possible). I admire their desire to bring something good out of a personal tragedy.

As their website, eenaproject.com so eloquently puts it:
Kristina’s death was tragic and preventable. We do not want any other family to experience what we went through that day. Education on rip currents and water safety can help you have a wonderful vacation here in the Outer Banks.

The website provides a lot of good information, and you can watch the video about Kristina on it. Take a few minutes to learn about rip currents: it just may save your life the next time you visit the island!