Governors all along the coast announced emergency preparations.
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“40-50 miles per hour wind gusts on south coast, Cape & Islands w/ scattered power outages possible tonight into Mon PM #Hermine”, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency tweeted Sunday.
Even during peak hurricane season, hurricanes that pass north of the Delmarva Peninsula typically weaken because of cooler ocean waters that limit the growth of central thunderstorms.
Hermine will continue to move across southeastern Georgia Friday, through the coastal Carolinas Friday evening and track offshore of the North Carolina coast on Saturday.
Despite sunny skies, holiday beachgoers were warned to avoid the sea Sunday due to unsafe currents and heavy waves. A surge is a rise of water above a predicted tide, pushed by high winds, and is often the greatest threat to life from a storm, according to national weather officials.
If they hit at high tide, storm surges could reach 3 to 5 feet (about 1 to 1.5 meters) in the Hampton Roads in the next few hours, and over the next day and a half from Chincoteague, Virginia, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the center said.
Virginia had 55,000 homes or businesses without power, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach reported downed trees and power outages across the cities and Norfolk was hit with up to four inches of rain, officials said.
The hurricane center said Hermine could hold onto that intensity for the next couple of days. If the storm strengthens to hurricane force over the open ocean, stronger winds could contribute to stronger tidal surges, coastal flooding and erosion. In Florida, a homeless man was struck and killed by a falling tree south of Gainesville, according to Gov. Rick Scott.
Sunday afternoon was sunny, with highs in the mid-70s, even as the tropical storm crashed against the coastline and promised to ruin Labor Day beach plans for vacationers at beaches from Virginia to MA.
The Mayor of NY says no swimming will be allowed at the beaches Sunday, and in New Jersey, Atlantic city officials canceled two outdoor concerts.
At 8 a.m., Tropical Storm Hermine is about 10 miles north-northwest of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. The surge also will cause unsafe rough surf and strong rip currents along the beaches.
Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded.
Isolated tornadoes possible Friday morning over north Florida and southeast Georgia, with the risk spreading across the eastern Carolinas later Friday.
The Federal Emergency Management Authority mistakenly transmitted a message Saturday night to Suffolk County residents that they must evacuate the island.
Hermine was forecast to dump up to seven inches (nearly 18 centimeters) of rain over parts of Virginia and Maryland through Monday morning.
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New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio closed city beaches Sunday and said that could extend to Labor Day or Tuesday.
