A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for coastal CT meaning winds are possible from 39 to 73 MPH, within the next 36 hours.
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The National Weather Service says Hermine is expected meander off the coast until midweek when it finally pull away and head northeast in the Atlantic.
By Sunday night, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was moving about 5 mph out to sea, about 370 miles east of Ocean City, Maryland, and 325 miles southeast of the eastern tip of Long Island.
Rain and strong winds are still expected Sunday, especially in coastal Sussex County, but the forecasted rain amounts have been knocked down to less than an additional inch and winds will be less of a factor to the west and north.
Greg and Margee Germaine weren’t letting Hermine ruin their wedding anniversary celebration Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
By 2 p.m. Saturday, Hermine’s top sustained winds had increased again to 70 miles per hour (110 kph) as it moved east at 10 miles per hour (17 kph). Tropical storm warnings were in effect as far north as CT. The service is also warning of a unsafe storm surge beginning early Sunday afternoon. In a worst-case scenario, Hermine will bring water levels of about 8.5 or nine feet above average low-tide levels to New York Harbor, whereas Sandy brought 14 feet.
In the northern Florida town of Ocala, a falling tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.
Hermine has killed two people since striking the Florida coast as a hurricane on Friday before weakening to tropical-storm status as it moved northward off the US East Coast.
When Hermine ripped into St. Marks in Florida’s Big Bend region just before 2 a.m. Friday, it became the first hurricane to come ashore in the state since Wilma struck 11 years ago.
The winds and rain were so strong Saturday in North Carolina that all bridges to the Outer Banks were closed for several hours following a deadly accident over the intracoastal waterway.
Overnight, four people suffered minor injuries when a tornado hit a campground in Hatteras Village, Dare County, North Carolina, officials said.
In Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the beach was closed to foot traffic and swimming prohibited Saturday, traffic was lighter than normal, said Jim Derrick, whose family businesses include a mini golf course, sea shell store, indoor bounce house and ice cream shop.
Elsewhere along Hermine’s path, people were having decidedly less fun.
Offshore, from the Baltimore Canyon to Cape Charles, Virginia, waves as high as 11m were expected today, with visibility 1.5km or less, the Weather Service said.
In Savannah, Georgia, Bacon Fest was canceled Friday and Saturday’s Craft Brew Fest was moved indoors.
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 United States bade farewell to the summer season. Post-tropical-cyclone The hurricane center says post-tropical cyclones can continue carrying heavy rains and high winds.
Farther up the coast, Amtrak cancelled or altered some service as the storm approached. “I love my kids, but two days is a long time to be together in close spaces”, she said.
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With about 300,000 Florida homes still without electricity on Saturday, Gov. Rick Scott said restoring power is the state’s top priority.
