Forecasters say minor coastal flooding is anticipated during the morning and evening high tide cycles Monday.
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The National Weather Service was predicting sustained winds of about 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 miles per hour in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and the nearby island of Nantucket, powerful enough to knock down small trees.
The hurricane center said tropical storm conditions were expected to be felt in the warning area later today.
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. A weak front may bring a shower or thunderstorm late Thursday night or Friday morning, but most of this period will remain rain-free. A coastal flood advisory is in effect through 5 a.m. Tuesday for Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean counties.
As Hermine slowly starts to turn east but remains close Wednesday, scattered showers, and wind will continue.
Tropical storm warnings that were issued for Jersey shore towns as Hermine headed toward the state were lifted Monday, but forecasters are still warning of dangerously high seas. Long Beach Island is still in a beach replenishment program.
The storm made a northward turn and is forecast to make a gradual turn northwest later Monday. It has battered several southern states on its way up the coast.
Hermine has spared New Jersey its worst fears, although the post-tropical cyclone is leaving its mark this Labor Day.
Elizabeth Brister, 23, saw her Labor Day weekend plans in “A.C.” blow away in the wind. “It was disgusting”, she said. “I was just pelted in the face with sand and I actually have sand in my contact right now”.
“We have a shortened staff due to the weather, but there are guards on duty”, he said.
On the Virginia Beach boardwalk, the Atlantic Ocean roared with uncharacteristically large waves, drawing only a couple of surfers into the choppy white water.
“My No. 1 concern is the unsafe rip currents we are going to experience”, the mayor said in a statement.
But residents are still urged to mindful of the water.
“We’ll see how the storm develops”.
Sykes said the beach patrol is allowing people to go in the water ankle and knee-deep, but no further.
Hermine rose up over the Gulf of Mexico and hit Florida on Friday as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm across Georgia.
There’s also a significant chance of more than one storm spinning up at the same time again, he said.
Earlier in Florida, a homeless man died from a falling tree.
A medical examiner’s office has yet to determine whether the storm was the cause, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said.
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On Saturday, high winds tipped over an 18-wheeler, killing its driver and shutting down a bridge in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
