Official: Woman drowns in rough surf off Amagansett

One woman drowned Sunday and several others were pulled from the water at Amagansett Beach, where strong rip currents made afternoon swimming treacherous, said Amagansett Fire Chief Mark Bennett.

Bennett said his department got a report of a woman pulled from the water and not breathing around 3:30 p.m. That woman, who was described to Bennett as being in her late 30s or early 40s, died, he said.

Several others were pulled from the water, some of whom may have gone in to help the woman, Bennett said. One of those who entered the rough surf, a man, was taken to Southampton Hospital, but Bennett said he is expected to recover. Others were treated at the scene, he said.

Bennett said reports were that the water had been rather calm during the day, but became dangerous quickly. "I was talking with one lifeguard who said when it happened, it came real fast, 10 or 15 minutes, a lot of rips," Bennett said.

Officials had reports of others in the water, but a search turned up only some inflated balloons and there were no reports of missing persons, he said. Bennett said East Hampton Town Police were investigating, but the department was not releasing any information Sunday night.

According to the National Weather Service, there was a moderate risk for rip currents in the area, which "implies that wind and/or wave conditions support the development of stronger and/or more frequent rip currents." The serviceurged people to swim only in areas with lifeguards on duty. The moderate risk for rip currents continues Monday.

With Ben Wieder