Panama City Beach officials, plagued by at least seven drownings since mid June and saddled with headlines labeling the beach as “the deadliest in America” are hoping fair winds and following seas are in their immediate future.

According to a report by the Panama City News Herald, Panama City’s Beach Safety Director thinks they’ll soon be able to fly yellow flags along the beaches rather than the red or double red flags which have flown almost continuously for the past two weeks.

Daryl Paul said they’d hoped to fly yellow flags on Thursday, but put up red flags out of an abundance of caution.

“Technically, the conditions that are visible today do meet our flag call criteria (for yellow), but (we decided to stay red) after referencing all the data from the various weather apps and referencing the wind direction and tide drop,” Paul told the newspaper. “We have a very substantial tide drop today on the shoreline, so we decided to hold on to single red.”

Red flags, whether single or double, have flown every day since June 12, according the report. Red flags indicate high hazard, with high surf and/or strong currents, while double red flags mean the water is closed to the public, according to Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Paul told the News Herald the strength of rip currents determines what flags will fly and that his lifeguards physically test the waters each morning to determine what flag will be posted.

Seven people died from drowning within a nine-day period on Panama City beaches from June 15-24 — the highest number of deaths for any beach in the U.S. for 2023, according to the National Weather Service.