Thank the sweet Lord for the Coast Guard!  A rescue swimmer was lowered by helicopter to save three people yesterday off the coast of Long Branch.  They were on a boat about three miles east of Long Branch's beach when it began taking in water.  Would YOU know what to do if your boat was sinking?

Listen to Shannon Holly mornings on 94.3 The Point and download our free 94.3 The Point app.

The Patch reported that a 47-foot motor lifeboat from the Coast Guard Station was deployed along with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter for the rescue.

A skilled rescue swimmer was lowered from the helicopter to help all three people get on board the lifeboat which safely took them to Shark River marina. Everyone was saved and there were no injuries but that begs the question, do you know that to do if a boat capsizes in the ocean?

1.  STAY WITH YOUR BOAT:  The most important thing you can do is stay with the boat and make the distress call for help. This greatly increases your chances of being rescued. From a helicopter's perspective, people look like a spec in the ocean, easily missed.  You've seen it in the movies when a stranded person sees help and they keep passing by.

2.  GRAB YOUR SUPPLIES:  How many supplies can you get your hands on?  Grab those flares, distress signals and extra flotation devices. Find anything that floats and tie it to the boat to create a bigger target.

3.  CLIMB ON TOP OF SOMETHING:  You want to reduce your exposure to the salt water because it robs the body of heat up to 25 times faster than being in the air.  Hypothermia is a huge concern.

4.  PREPARE FOR THE WORST:  You want to have an easy to grab bag of gear in case things go wrong. In that bag should be a registered emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB).

5.  ALWAYS LET SOMEONE KNOW YOU WILL BE OUT IN THE OCEAN  You have to commit to telling people when you expect to be back. So if that deadline is missed they will start looking.

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Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

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Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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