Those 5-foot-high waves Hurricane Gonzalo brought to the east coast on Saturday are long gone, but that doesn't mean conditions are any safer in Volusia County and along the coast.

Lifeguards are keeping an eye on what Gonzalo left behind, which includes increased rip current threats.

Todd Culpepper is visiting the area from Knoxville, Tennessee. He doesn't know how to spot a rip current before he takes his children into the ocean.

"No, not really," Culpepper said, in regard to knowing what a rip current might look like. "We're not experienced with that sort of stuff."

Nikki Hru may not know how to recognize a rip current, but she said she's been caught in one before.

Hru and other swimmers will see lifeguards flying the red flag when they get to the beach alerting them to dangerous conditions in the ocean.

Gonzalo triggered 5-foot and 6-foot waves which tore gaps in sandbars on the ocean floor.

"What the big surf does is that it actually messes up the bottom, breaks holes in the sandbars and rearranges the whole bottom of the ocean," said Capt. Ray Manchester, with Volusia Beach Safety and Ocean Rescue. "So it helps develop rip currents after it actually calms down."

Manchester said lifeguards are expecting winds to pick up along the coast, which should keep temperatures cooler and making a swim more inviting.

Knowing what to do when caught in a rip current is more important than being able to spot one, Manchester said. That's something Hru learned after getting caught in one.

 "You swim kind of diagonally — or to the side — until you're out of it and then you go back to shore," Hru said.