In addition, the threat of risky rip currents remains high on Monday and a tropical storm warning remains in effect for the coastal waters off the Jersey Shore and Long Island because Hermine is generating “dangerously high seas”, with waves as high as 10 to 14 feet, the National Weather Service said in a marine warning statement.
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“The event is far from over”, said National Hurricane Center meteorologist Dennis Feltgen.
Storm Hermine churned off the U.S. Middle Atlantic Coast on Sunday, with forecasters projecting it may regain hurricane strength as it creeps north, spoiling the Labor Day holiday weekend with high winds, soaking rains and surging seas.
Projections show the outer reaches of the storm could sweep the coastlines of Rhode Island or MA later in the week as Hermine crawls north and northeast.
Hurricane Hermine has already caused damage to the Atlantic coast, but it’s set to bring even more chaos to the tri-state area on September 4.
A total rainfall of more than 22 inches was reported in Florida, with totals as high as 13 inches in North Carolina.
The wind is expected to pick up on Sunday and increase throughout the day, and there’s a chance of coastal flooding in some areas as well.
“Don’t be lulled by the nice weather”, Christie said, referring to the bright sunny skies along the Jersey shore Sunday afternoon. “It was just the most very bad thing you think would happen”. 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.
In Florida, Hermine’s main impact came in the form of power outages and damage from storm surges.
Hermine, now a post-tropical cyclone, was moving across the Outer Banks of North Carolina in an east-northeasterly direction at approximately 19 kilometers per hour, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
It was downgraded later that day to a tropical storm as it moved north.
Governors along the Eastern Seaboard announced emergency preparations.
Tyrrell County Sheriff Darryl Liverman told the Virginian-Pilot that high winds tipped over an 18-wheeler, killing its driver and shutting down the USA 64 bridge.
As the storm wound its way up the coast on Sunday after killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia last week, National Hurricane Center (NHC) director Rick Knabb warned in a webcast that Hermine “could become hurricane force again”.
The storm, described as post-tropical by forecasters, was about 390 miles south-southeast of Nantucket late Saturday night.
Life-threatening storm surges are possible in the next 12 hours in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area, the center said. “The most risky aspect to the storm is going to be to the beaches”.
Earlier in Florida, a homeless man died from a falling tree.
And on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, a small tornado spawned by Hermine knocked over two trailers and injured four people, authorities said.
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“You worry about keeping your boat nearby or haul it home but who wants to haul it home”, said Laura Peete of Centerville.
