Spring break celebrations descended into chaos at the annual Orange Crush gathering in Savannah as shocking videos show topless fights and piles of trash washing into the ocean.
The Orange Crush is a college spring break party on Tybee Island in the popular Georgia resort town. Video showed piles of trash along the coast being washed into the ocean.
Another video captured the shocking moment a fight breaks out on the beach boardwalk as several women violently punch and scratch each other, with several having their shirts fly off.
The out-of-control scene led some on social media to ask, “When did Tybee Island become a shitshow?”
Despite the shocking videos, local and state officials were quick to praise the 2024 reunions, with one stating, “Overall, everyone is getting along pretty well.”
At this year’s Orange Crush event, some unruly partygoers traded blows while other attendees cheered them on. The footage was one of several shocking social media posts from the annual spring break gathering in Savannah, Georgia.
At this year’s Orange Crush, some attendees left trash scattered along the shore, where it washed into the ocean.
Video of the fight, which has nearly 65,000 views on X.com, showed the women punching each other while other revelers lined the boardwalk and cheered on the fighters.
In the middle of the fight, some of the women had their blouses pulled down or removed from their place. Some of the women stopped fighting and tried to get dressed. Another woman, in a green swimsuit, could be seen continuing to fight, even after her breasts were revealed.
In one horrifying moment, a shorter woman with fiery orange hair knocked another woman to the ground by her hair and then began punching her before other women pulled her away.
Later in the video, the same woman with orange hair threw a punch at a woman in a green bikini that was so violent that it momentarily caused her head to snap back.
Throughout the nearly two and a half minute long video, men and women clap and shout enthusiastically as the women on the boardwalk exchange blows.
Some of the combatants could be seen walking away from the altercation, dazed and trying to fix their hair.
Toward the end of the video, a man appeared to be running along the boardwalk, swinging a woman’s broken extensions in the air.
Commenters on the video expressed disbelief at the violent scene. One commenter expressed surprise that it was women who were fighting: “So what I gather is that girls are more aggressive than boys.”
And one person wrote: “I thought they closed Orange Crush because of this.”
During the fight, several women hit each other and grabbed each other’s hair.
Garbage was spread along the shore. Some officials helped clean it up.
Nearly 6,000 partiers descended on Tybee Island for this year’s event. Last year, the city had trouble handling some of the more rowdy attendees.
Another video, uploaded to TikTok, documented the amount of trash strewn along the shore.
In the video, empty beer cans and liquor bottles, as well as other debris, were spread across the sand and washed into the ocean. Hundreds of people were along the shore with trash, but few seemed to be cleaning up.
The video sparked angry responses from some viewers when one commenter wrote: “Wow, it’s not hard to use the trash can.”
And another person offered this stern rebuke: “If you can’t respect the beach, stay away from the beach.”
This year’s Orange Crush drew more than 6,000 partiers to Tybee Island, most of whom were HCBU undergraduates.
Despite the chaotic images circulating online, state and local officials said Saturday’s event was a calm affair.
The event happens every year and is predominantly made up of college students.
At this year’s Orange Crush, there were many calm and thoughtful partiers who behaved responsibly.
Talking with WSAV3, Major Bob Holley of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said: ‘The behavior has been pretty good today. “We have responded to some medical calls with Tybee medical authorities and that is pretty much all we have done today.”
Before the big celebration began Saturday, the city of Tybee took precautions to try to avoid a repeat of last year’s Orange Crush, which saw more than 100,000 revelers descend on the three-mile island.
The city’s police force was severely overstretched and struggled to address reports of gunshots, fistfights and drug overdoses during the 2023 event.
Chatham County refused to rent the pier pavilion, where many out-of-control partiers gathered last year.
In an interview with WTO11According to a local news outlet, Tybee Interim City Manager Michelle Owens said the pier had been “closed to be a staging area for law enforcement.”
Although images of spring breakers fighting quickly gained traction online, there were other videos of revelers resting peacefully on the beach, enjoying their vacation.
An Orange Crush attendee explained to WSAV3 that violent participants are not indicative of the entire group.
‘We just get together and want to have fun. We throw away the rotten apples,” said Bailo Diallo.
“There are a couple of people here and there, but that doesn’t define everyone.”
Miami Beach announced a curfew and other draconian measures in an effort to prevent vacationers from flooding its city in 2024.
Spring Break students declared Fort Lauderdale the ‘new Miami’ after a judge dismissed suit filed by three South Beach nightclubs to lift midnight curfew
Many vehicles were stopped by Fort Lauderdale police officers who set up a DUI checkpoint along the boardwalk, and those playing loud music and revving their engines were also spoken to.
Students DailyMail.com spoke to said they planned to continue partying for the rest of the week, with some openly smoking marijuana in full view of police. Pictured: Students on the beach with large bottles labeled “Try the Rainborg.”
Tybee Island is just the latest coastal town that has to deal with rowdy spring breakers.
Earlier this year, Miami Beach announced a curfew and other draconian measures in an effort to prevent spring breakers from flooding their city. During the two previous spring break events, deadly shootings rocked the city.
They launched a video campaign breaking away from the spring break celebration.
Undeterred by Miami’s rejection, college students flocked to Ft. Lauderdale, where they partied and drank despite police supervision.
Thousands of people flocked to Florida beaches, many of them drinking and some fighting in front of police before passing out.
DailyMail.com witnessed revelers taking drugs, playing beer pong and cheering on fights between girls, who celebrated fending off their opposition by twerking amid a howling crowd.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis welcomed the students with open arms and said, ‘We want you to come back next year. We want you to come back in the coming years.’
Kaiya Washington, a 22-year-old University at Buffalo student, told DailyMail.com that she headed to Fort Lauderdale because of the chaos and death that had plagued Miami in previous years.
“We came for a week, last year we heard a lot about shootings in Miami and that it was generally unsafe, so we came here,” he said.
“We’re really glad we did it, especially with the curfews and the police being so strict in Miami, and we really haven’t heard of any shootings or a lot of problems here.”