Viral Video Shows Beachgoers Swept Off Their Feet by King Tide Wave at Moonstone Beach

The king tide has been wreaking havoc along the North Coast recently, swallowing up beaches and surprising unexpected beachgoers with sneaker waves. In a video posted to Facebook, Marcella Ogata-Day showed the power of the tide when a few people and washing them ashore in what could have been a much more dangerous situation.

The viral video (above) shows three people being hit by the sneaker wave, a scary scene in the moment, and everyone ended up unharmed. Here is what Ogata-Day had to say about the incident:

“What sneaker waves can do.”

“This is not an CRITIQUE of others should have done. No personal judgments needed. I watched many swells come through with a lull before something comes up. I clipped just this section to illustrate the power of the water and was glad everyone was okay. Any one of us could be there on that bank near the parking lot checking out the high tide. Any one of us can be walking along a beach on a nice sunny day and a surge comes up and pulls a dog, a friend, a family member unexpectedly. Awareness and understanding will help.“

“It was a very high tide, aka King Tide, yesterday. Jan. 11, 2020. Cold and exhilarating. An approximate forecast of 14 feet, 16 seconds. High tide was at 7.97 feet at 11:16 am. John and I were checking out the King Tides along Trinidad down to Arcata. The strength of the surge can be seen on this video I took while checking out Moonstone Beach.“

“There is a perceived sense of being safe and there were plenty of times when the waves came up, then went back as expected. But waves can double up with a strong surge coming to shore which happened yesterday and knocked some people not even on the sandy part of the beach off their feet with water coming up to the parking area. Everyone was okay and a lot more alert.“