NORFOLK, Va. (AP) – Hermine continued Monday to twist hundreds of miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to keep swimmers and surfers out of beach waters because of its unsafe waves and rip currents on the last day of the long holiday weekend. Beachgoers walk away from big waves and rough surf caused by Hermine, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in Bradley Beach, N.J. No swimming was allowed because of the passing storm.
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Maryland has already declared a state of emergency ahead of Hermine, which will bring tropical storm conditions into the mid-Atlantic region today, then into coastal areas of New Jersey and NY on Sunday, says Manzo.
Hermine strafed the Southern states of Florida, Georgia and SC on Friday as it quickly weakened back to tropical storm strength, and thrashed North Carolina before sliding back over the Atlantic on Saturday.
New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater. Powerful winds approaching 40 miles per hour knocked down trees and power lines from North Carolina’s Outer Banks to Maryland. In North Carolina, a tractor trailer overturned on a bridge over the Alligator River, killing the driver.
Up to 18cm of rain fell and 50-to-100km/h winds blew from North Carolina to the Eastern Shore, chasing tourists and disrupting Labour Day weekend plans as the USA bade farewell to the summer season.
People posted pictures of flooding and high tides from North Carolina to Delaware.
Todd Solomon, who lives in an area of Virginia Beach that often floods, said water crept up to the foundations of some homes.
“Right now it’s rough as hell”.
“My No. 1 concern is the risky rip currents we are going to experience”, the mayor said in a statement. “It’s just out of control”.
“Wind and water hazards of a variety of kinds are things we have to contend with throughout Labor Day weekend”, National Hurricane Center director Rick Knabb said Saturday.
As of 2 a.m. EDT Monday, Hermine’s top sustained winds were steady at 70 miles per hour (110 kph) as it moved north at 3 miles per hour (6 kph).
Loose objects outside should be properly secured in advance of the storm and power outages are still a possibility. New tropical storm watches were also issued for parts of Rhode Island and southern MA. But he said the storm could regain its hurricane force as it feeds off warm water.
Because of concerns about rough seas, unsafe surf and strong storm surge, no swimming will be allowed on NY beaches Sunday.
Manzo says Hermine is threatening a storm surge into southeast Virginia.
The storm surge should be less powerful – but at 2-4 feet, still unsafe – along coastal areas of New York City, eastern Long Island and Newport, Rhode Island, the weather service said.
The mass power outages and flooding that battered Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas had yet to materialize further north, where alarming news reports scared tourists away from the beach.
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The storm was projected to dump up to 180 millimetres of rain in southeast Virginia and Atlantic coastal parts of Maryland and up to 100 millimetres in southern DE, southern and eastern New Jersey and Long Island, Brown said.
