Hardworking man, 22, disappears off New York beach during intense thunderstorm
The victim, a hard-working immigrant from Niger who had just taken his second day off of work in two years, vanished on Friday while swimming at Rockaway Beach in Queens.
As he disappeared, extreme thunderstorms were hitting New York City from the afternoon into the evening.
Police said they started receiving 911 calls about the missing swimmer - whose identity has yet to be publicly released - just after 6pm on Friday.
Kaitlin Krause, the founder of nonprofit Riding Tide Effect, a group promoting water safety, was just feet away when first responders rushed to the scene.
'The irony is, I was there to give a water safety talk. I was literally setting up my handouts when I saw the firetrucks charging down the boardwalk,' Krause told the Gothamist.
She recalled that lifeguards and safety officials rushed to the water, but said people can drown in a matter of seconds.
The NYPD's Harbor, Scuba and Aviation Units have not been able to locate the man despite their efforts.
Footage shared on Citizen App showed NYPD vessels scouring the waters of the popular beach as people gathered along the shoreline on Saturday. Several rescue trucks were also at the scene.
Krause said the heartbroken family of the unnamed victim has been reaching out to her for updates, the Gothamist reported.
She also warned that the portion of the beach where he disappeared from is a notoriously 'treacherous spot.'
'At the top it looks calm but under its moving,' Krause told the outlet of the section of the beach located in the Far Rockaway neighborhood.
Rockaway Beach has earned an unsettling reputation as the city's 'deadliest beach.'
An NYPD spokesperson told Daily Mail the swimmer is still missing as of Sunday morning.
He was not able to provide further information about the future of the search or share any other details.
On Friday night, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued severe thunderstorm warning for New York City, parts of the Hudson Valley, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Across the five boroughs, intense winds exceeding 60 miles per hour brought down tree and powerlines.
The storms, which began in the late afternoon and only lasted until mid-evening, followed a day of unrelenting heat.
Tri-state area residents sweltered in the high temperatures and humidity, with New Yorkers enduring temperatures higher than 90 degrees.
Friday's alarming disappearance comes after a body was found floating in the ocean at Rockaway Beach on July 20.
Police believe the body belongs to a 37-year-old man who was reported missing two weeks earlier, but are awaiting official confirmation as the corpse's face was decomposed.
In May, NYC outlined its 'Summer Safety Plan' to keep residents protected at the city's beaches.
Lifeguards at public beaches are on duty from 10am to 6pm, and 'swimming is prohibited when lifeguards are not on duty and in closed sections,' according to a press release.
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