POPHAM BEACH, Maine — Jamie Acord didn't expect her weekend trip to Popham Beach to be straight out of a Hollywood movie.
"I just dropped like a rock," Acord told NEWS CENTER Maine. "[My husband] said I was there and then the next minute I wasn't."
Acord said while the two were walking along the beach, she started sinking into the ground. In a matter of seconds, she was waist-deep in sand.
"I couldn't feel the ground with my feet," she said. "I couldn't push myself out."
Her husband was able to pull her out. Besides a few scratches, she's OK.
The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry said Acord had stepped on a pocket of supersaturated sand caused by the changing direction of the nearby Morse River. Instead of flowing out to sea, the river is directed along the beach because of erosion caused by impactful winter storms.
"The sand is saturated with water," department communications director Jim Britt said. "It’s even more unstable and very easy to find yourself sinking into it."
Britt said the sand won't swallow a person whole. But if someone does get stuck, they should stay calm, lean back, and wiggle their toes to get out.
"What is occurring is a 100-percent survivable scenario," he added.
Britt said the situation is a first for the department, that he's aware of. However, saturated sand is common.
"Maybe you have a memory of camping and stepping in some sinkable mud, finding you're up to your calf and how difficult it was, but you got yourself out," Britt said. "I think this is the same type of situation."
He said warning signs are expected to go up across the beach with tips in how to get out of supersaturated sand.