our kids began swimming lessons at 8 months. they respect the ocean and would never go out in it without an adult present.Oz, if bama went to visit you, we'd all have to go help you build a chicken jail for him. LOL! Sorry to hear about those children. Yes, keep your kids away from the beach until the waters calm back down. Never go to the beach right before, or after a storm. Teach them not to swim towards shore if they ever get caught by an undertow. Instead, swim parallel to the shore until they are out of the undertow, then swim towards shore. Glad you didn't sustain too much damage from the storm. There's usually some clean up to do after a big storm, even if there is no damage.
we had mountains of debris to clean. we had more than a ton of sugar cane alone washed up onto the beach. there were more than 100 coconut branches that fell on the property as well as barrow loads of leaves. i wish i had a chipper to turn the sugar cane into compost. it took everyday since the storm until now to clean up.