Hurricane Erin starts rough slog up East Coast; NC under state of emergency: Live updates
Evacuations were underway along parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a big draw for vacationers every summer, and Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency Tuesday afternoon "to assist with the response and to mobilize resources.''
With Erin's predicted storm surge and waves of over 10 feet, the National Weather Service was urging people in the Outer Banks to stay out of the ocean to avoid deadly surf conditions expected through at least Thursday. Officials in Dare County warned that roads, including the main exit route, could soon be overwhelmed by water.
"Dare County remains under a State of Emergency and a Mandatory Evacuation order is in effect for Hatteras Island," the county posted on social media. "Please note that N.C. Hwy. 12 may be impassable by August 19 at 5 p.m."
In neighboring Hyde County, a mandatory evacuation order went into effect Tuesday for Ocracoke Island.
Erin was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane Tuesday but remained powerful, driving sustained winds of 105 mph. Erin, picking up a little speed, was moving north-northwest at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm appeared to be making the long-forecast, slow cruise northward hundreds of miles offshore − and no U.S. landfall was forecast.
Still, Erin's large and expanding wind fields mean storm-driven waves, coastal erosion and high seas are expected to batter areas of the coast, especially along the Outer Banks, the barrier islands that fringe the coast of North Carolina.
More: Powerful Hurricane Erin to create big waves, rough surf along US East Coast
Developments:
∎ New York Mayor Eric Adams said all of the city's beaches will be closed for swimming Wednesday and Thursday "due to dangerous riptides from Hurricane Erin.''
∎ About two hours before high tide in the Outer Banks, the National Weather Service office in Newport/Morehead showed a portion of the crucial Highway 12 in Buxton was already starting to flood.
∎ Winds with tropical-storm force from Erin will probably extend outward more than 230 miles from its center, AccuWeather said.
∎ The NWS office in the Baltimore/Washington area has issued advisories that include a coastal flood warning for Annapolis, Maryland, where flooding is expected within 36 hours.
Erin expected to grow
At 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Erin was about 630 miles southwest of Bermuda and 655 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras. The center of Erin was forecast to pass to the east of the Bahamas on Tuesday and then move over the western Atlantic between the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda on Wednesday and Thursday.
A storm surge warning was issued for the Outer Banks from Cape Lookout to Duck, meaning there's a danger of life-threatening rising water moving inland from the coastline during the next 36 hours. A tropical storm warning is also in effect from Beaufort Inlet to Duck.
"Erin forecast to substantially grow in size while moving over the western Atlantic through the week," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Robbie Berg wrote in a public advisory. "Dangerous rip currents expected along U.S. East Coast beaches."
Erin's strength could still fluctuate before it finally begins to wind down later in the week, according to the center's forecast.
Scores of swimmers rescued
Lifeguards have rescued dozens of people from the churning waters along East Coast beaches even as Hurricane Erin remains hundreds of miles offshore. Officials in North Carolina said at least 60 people had to be rescued from rip currents at Wrightsville Beach, prompting a no-swim order in place through the rest of the week, according to reporting from the Wilmington Star-News, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Another person was rescued from rip currents at a South Carolina beach and a dozen rip currents were reported at South Carolina and Georgia beaches on Aug. 18, the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina, said.
The threat exists up and down the entire East Coast, hurricane forecasters said. Beaches as far north as Massachusetts are closed to swimmers due to rough surf. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, officials said beachgoers were restricted to getting knee-deep into the water and were prohibited from using boogie boards. Read more here.
− Jeanine Santucci
Dozens rescued from rip currents as Hurricane Erin brings danger to East Coast beaches
Outer Banks at risk
Tropical storm and storm surge watches were in effect for parts of the Outer Banks and coastal North Carolina, which means tropical storm winds and higher-than-normal sea levels are possible. The hurricane center warned that storm surge could cause the water to rise 2 to 4 feet above dry ground along the Outer Banks as Erin pushes northward.
Some roads could remain impassable in several locations for several days. Dare County announced that transportation was available Tuesday to a shelter in Warren County.
"Individuals evacuating on the buses need to bring clothing and medications for 7 days," the county said in a statement. It said shelters are available for dogs and cats and that owners can transport these pets on the buses.
Dare County has a permanent population of about 37,000, but the population balloons from June through August to about 225,000 to 300,000, according to the county's website.
The county said several Facebook accounts were sharing misinformation surrounding Hurricane Erin. "The Town of Kill Devil Hills truly said it best: 'Misinformation spreads quicker than storms,'" the county said on social media.
"The photos shown here are examples of false, AI-generated images and videos that have been circulating," the post warned. "Stay informed by following trusted sources for information."
Two tropical systems lurk in the Atlantic
Hurricane Erin is the current concern of meteorologists, not the only one.
Forecasters are monitoring two tropical systems in the Atlantic − one in the central part of the ocean, the other off the coast of Africa − and gauging whether they could develop into a named storm. If so, the next one will be called Fernand.
At this point, neither disturbance appears to be a threat to land, although the National Hurricane Center gives the one farther west a 60% chance of developing.
The hurricane season, which began June 1, has yet to reach its midpoint, so plenty more activity is expected before the season's closure at the end of November.
− Doyle Rice
Some fishing excursions put on hold in New Jersey
In Asbury Park, New Jersey, boats were tied up and fishing trips were being canceled or delayed this week. Erin's swell could see waves build to 22 feet in the underwater Hudson canyon that sprawls for hundreds of miles of the shores of New Jersey and New York, forecasters said.
The timing isn't good − the MidAtlantic fishing competition was scheduled to run from Aug. 17-21 with over $3.2 million in cash payouts at stake. The event kicked off amid much fanfare in Cape May, N.J., and Ocean City, Md. For the safety of tournament participants, staff, sponsors and venues, the competition directors announced the competition will run an extra day, through Saturday.
"Tournament staff have been closely monitoring all aspects and impacts the storm would have on the event," a statement on the competition's website said. 'We take date changes very seriously, but don't see any way to avoid it under these exceptional circumstances."
− Dan Radel, Asbury Park Press
'Not going to be a safe environment to be in the ocean'
Dangerous conditions in the surf zone with large, breaking waves are forecast from East Central Florida to Canada's Atlantic Coast beginning Tuesday, Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan has warned.
Brennan is pleading with U.S. residents to take Erin's potential coastal impacts seriously, even though the nation will be spared a direct landfall. Offshore wave heights could exceed 20 to 30 feet.
High tides are also expected to bring higher-than-normal water levels further southward along the coast, the weather service has warned.
"It's not going to be a safe environment to be in the ocean," Brennan said, adding that even when the weather may be pleasant on shore, dangerous and possibly life-threatening rip currents could be lurking in the water.
Because of its slow movement, coastal areas of North Carolina are expected to feel the brunt of the ocean's impacts for several days, according to the weather service office in Newport/Morehead City. Mandatory evacuations were issued Aug. 18 for Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island.
At its closest point, Erin is forecast to be about 200 miles off Cape Hatteras. Erin's mean diameter at 11 p.m. on Aug. 18 was roughly 355 miles, but the storm was creating 10-foot seas across an area of the Atlantic Ocean roughly 645 miles in diameter, according to hurricane center data. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the center, with the greatest distance on the eastern side of the storm.
Further south along the North Carolina coast, emergency officials rescued at least 60 people caught in rip currents and heavy surf on Aug. 18 in Wrightsville Beach, prompting a "no swimming" advisory through Friday.
What's next behind Hurricane Erin?
Following behind Erin is yet another tropical wave that's given a 60% chance of becoming a tropical storm over the next seven days, the hurricane center said. A third disturbance just moved off the West African coast, but it's expected to encounter hostile conditions that may limit its further development.
When did Hurricane Erin form?
Erin formed on Aug. 11 from a tropical wave that moved across the Cabo Verde Islands. By Aug. 15, it was a hurricane and quickly joined the ranks of the fastest intensifying hurricanes in Atlantic history, increasing its winds by 85 mph in about 21 hours.
It has mostly spared the islands along the Eastern Caribbean but soaked Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and portions of the Southeastern Bahamas with up to 8 inches of rain. Its winds caused widespread power outages in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Does a Category 5 hurricane say anything about the rest of the season?
Though the Atlantic hurricane season that started June 1 is forecast to be more active than normal, Dan Brown, branch chief of the center's hurricane specialists, said that Erin's formation has no bearing on what may happen later in the season.
And Levi Silvers, a research scientist at Colorado State University, pointed out that it only takes one intense landfalling hurricane to make it a disastrous season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Erin live updates: Latest on trajectory; East Coast threats
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