Storm Hermine churned off the U.S. Middle Atlantic Coast on Sunday, threatening to regain hurricane strength after carving a path of destruction through the South while so far sparing the Northeast from the worst of its wind, rain and sea surge.
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“We are already experiencing more and more flooding due to climate change in every storm”, said Michael Oppenheimer, a geosciences professor at Princeton University.
By 5am on Sunday, Hermine’s top sustained winds remained at 65mph as it moved north-east at 12mph. The storm was centered about 320 miles (515 kilometers) southeast of the eastern tip of Long Island.
Forecasters say Hermine could develop hurricane force wind speeds of 119 km/h by Sunday evening as it travels up the coast before weakening again to a tropical storm by Tuesday.
Brian Blanco/Getty Images News/Getty ImagesHOLMES BEACH, FL – SEPTEMBER 1: Doug LeFever inspects the seawall near his home at the Sandpiper Resort as he surveys the rising water coming from the Gulf of Mexico into his neighborhood as winds and storm surge associated with Tropical Storm Hermine impact the area on September 1, 2016 at in Holmes Beach, Florida.
The storm system is still expected to keep swimmers and surfers out of beach waters because of its unsafe waves and rip currents, and storm surge and beach erosion remain concerns.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency in three coastal counties of the state, which was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Tropical storm watches and warnings were in effect from Virginia to MA, with special concern focused on New Jersey and DE, where Rehoboth Beach could experience gusts up to 50 miles per hour and life-threatening storm surges during high tide late Sunday and into Monday.
Hermine has been linked to at least two deaths – a man sleeping in a tent in Ocala who died after a tree fell on him and the death of a truck driver whose vehicle overturned due to high winds in eastern North Carolina.
Governors have announced emergency plans along the coast as far north as CT, with many Labor Day weekend events cancelled.
Families across Islip Town are encouraged to review their preparations and be ready for the possible adverse effects of this storm including loss of power, downed tree limbs and flooding.
By 2 p.m. Saturday, Hermine’s top sustained winds had increased again to 70 miles per hour as it moved east at 10 miles per hour. It was expected to stall over the water before weakening again to a tropical storm by Tuesday.
An estimated 325,000 people were without power statewide, many in the Tallahassee area, and more than 107,000 in neighboring Georgia, officials said. The island, a narrow barrier island off Long Island’s southern coast, which fills with beach house owners and renters on weekends – especially long ones – was under a voluntary evacuation warning Sunday.
“Right now, it’s looking like we’re not having much of any beach fun”, she said.
The storm left a trail of destruction in the south-east, killing two people.
Whipping winds didn’t keep some beach seekers from walking along the Jersey shore on Monday, but Labor Day vacationers quickly took to boardwalks as an aggressive high tide moved into the area late morning.
“It was a little overhyped by the media”, said Andrew Thulin, assistant general manager of Daddy O Hotel Restaurant in the New Jersey township of Long Beach.
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Sykes said the beach patrol is allowing people to go in the water ankle and knee-deep, but no further. “It was frightful”, she said.
