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”.
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Forecasters said the storm which has increased its winds to 70 miles per hour should begin to turn north later today and strengthen as it moves slowly over warm Atlantic water.
Masbahul Islam, a pedicab driver who has worked in Atlantic City for six years, said the Labor Day crowd is much smaller than in years past.
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.
The governor noted that 900,000 more people are at the shore this weekend than during the off-season, when storms like Sandy and Jonas hit.
Even as it moved away from the U.S. East Coast, officials said it still had enough strength to make waves and currents unsafe.
Winds there Saturday afternoon were 25 miles per hour, with gusts of 35 miles per hour, the weather service said. His family businesses include a mini golf course, sea shell store, indoor bounce house and ice cream shop in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the beach was closed to foot traffic and swimming was prohibited Saturday.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency Saturday for Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties.
“The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline”.
Life-threatening storm surges were possible, the hurricane center said.
Authorities had been concerned Hermine would bring heavy rains, strong winds and flooding in some coastal areas.
Although beaches will be open, Mayor Bill de Blasio is warning people to stay out of the water because of the high probability of rip currents.
On the Virginia Beach boardwalk, the Atlantic Ocean roared with uncharacteristically large waves, drawing only a couple of surfers into the choppy white water.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for… It activates the state’s emergency operations plan, broadens the powers of the state police – particularly for traffic control – and allows the National Guard to help with rescue or cleanup if necessary. A homeless man was killed by a falling tree on Friday in Florida. John Mayes, 56, was sleeping in a tent behind a gas station in Ocala, about 65 miles northwest of Orlando, when a tree fell onto him Thursday night, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said. He said everyone is prepared for the storm.
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One person died Saturday when a tractor-trailer overturned while crossing a bridge in eastern North Carolina amid high winds from Hermine, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Public Safety, Michael Baker, said.
