Hermine churns off North Carolina after pounding Florida
Storm blamed for 2nd death after heavy winds tip over 18-wheeler near Outer Banks
A powerful Atlantic storm strengthened on Saturday afternoon after passing over North Carolina's Outer Banks en route to the U.S. Middle Atlantic coast, where it was expected to spoil the holiday weekend with high winds, soaking rains and surging seas.
The storm, dubbed Hermine and classified as a Category 1 hurricane until it lost power as it cut a path of destruction through Florida and Georgia, was expected to linger off the coast between Virginia and New York for days.
But first forecasters expect Hermine to turn to the northeast and decrease its forward speed on Saturday night, pick up strength and then achieve hurricane force again on Sunday.
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"It's going to sit offshore and it is going to be a tremendous coastal event with a dangerous storm surge and lots of larger waves probably causing significant beach erosion, for the next few days," said Daniel Brown, senior hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency in three coastal counties of the state, which was devastated by superstorm Sandy in 2012.
To the south, Delaware Gov.Jack Markell declared a limited state of emergency for Sussex County, which includes the coastal resorts of Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach. Hermine left North Carolina with power outages, flooding, downed trees and power lines, while rain and tides brought flooding along Virginia's coast from Virginia Beach to Norfolk.
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The storm, which lost its tropical characteristics earlier on Saturday, was slowly creeping east off the North Carolina coast and gaining strength, the National Hurricane Centre said. The storm was expected to possibly reach near-hurricane intensity again on Sunday.
People posted pictures of flooding and high tides from North Carolina to Delaware. "Almost getting blown away from this storm on the boardwalk in Ocean City was so worth it for Dunkin' Donuts," Twitter user Jessica wrote from a Maryland resort town.
Life-threatening storm surges are possible in the next 12 hours around Hampton Roads, Virginia, the hurricane centre said. A surge is the 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.
At 5 p.m. ET, the centre of the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was moving at about 19.31 km/h in waters off Norfolk, Virginia, with sustained winds of up to 110 km/h, the hurricane centre said.
The tropical storm warning reaches from Virginia to New Jersey and storm surges at the shores could reach up to 1.5 metres if they hit at high tide, the centre 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 10 centimetres of rain, officials said.
Powerful winds extended up to 335 km from Hermine's centre, the NHC warned.
Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks with winds of 130 km/h, churning up a devastating storm surge.
2nd storm-related death
Authorities reported one storm-related death, in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a falling tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.
On Saturday, a second death was attributed to the storm. Winds became so strong that state transportation officials closed all bridges to North Carolina's Outer Banks after a fatal accident over the intracoastal waterway.
Tyrell County Sheriff Darryl Liverman told the Virginian-Pilot that high winds tipped over an 18-wheeler, killing its driver and shutting down the U.S. 64 bridge.
And on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, a small tornado spawned by Hermine knocked over two trailers and injured four people, authorities said.
Labour Day weekend plans for vacationers headed to beaches along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry.
Officials in Atlantic City, N.J., cancelled weekend concerts and beaches were closed in several communities. A Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert set for Virginia Beach also was postponed from Saturday to Monday because of the storm.
Heavy rain for mid-Atlantic states
Emergency management officials from North Carolina to New Jersey warned the surges would bring strong rip currents, high seas and beach erosion.
Early on Saturday, crews in Wilmington, N.C., rescued several people sitting atop their vehicle in a flooded street, photos from local media showed. A tornado in North Carolina caused at least one injury, local media reported.
At least 250,000 households were without power from Florida through Virginia, utility companies reported Saturday.
Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.
The storm was projected to dump up to 18 cm of rain in southeast Virginia and Atlantic coastal parts of Maryland and up to 10 cm in southern Delaware, southern and eastern New Jersey and Long Island, Brown said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations centre and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators.
New York Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides.
Concerns over standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified in Florida as it battled an outbreak of the Zika virus.
With files from The Associated Press