Hermine on path away from East Coast; will it last?

Storm surges pushed by Hermine, the once and future hurricane that on Sunday was moving up the United States eastern seaboard, could be even more damaging because sea levels have risen by a foot due to global warming, climate scientists say. “And it’s only the beginning”.

With sustained winds of 70 miles per hour, Hermine is expected to remain near hurricane strength through Monday night, but will gradually weaken by Tuesday morning, the hurricane center said.

It will meander off the mid-Atlantic coast for the next day or two, and after that, the storm is expected to move in a northeast direction again and head out to sea.

The storm hit Florida early Friday as a Category 1 hurricane.

Tyrell County Sheriff Darryl Liverman told The Virginian-Pilot that the winds tipped the truck over as it crossed the U.S. Highway 64 bridge over the Alligator River around 9:45 a.m. Saturday.

Hermine continued Monday to twist hundreds of miles off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to keep swimmers and surfers out of beach waters because of its risky waves and rip currents on the last day of the long holiday weekend.

The mass power outages and flooding that battered Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas had yet to materialize further north, where alarming news reports scared tourists away from the beach.

The National Hurricane Center didn’t want those along the coast to let their guard down just yet, saying storm surge would still be a concern for the next few days as well as large waves and rip currents.

Hundreds of thousands of residents in Florida lost power when the storm made landfall, and Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in 51 counties, which were cleaning up after thrashing winds and up to almost 2 feet of rain in some areas. A tropical storm warning was in effect from New York’s Long Island to MA.

The almost 3-mile long bridge crosses the Intracoastal Waterway and is the main link from the North Carolina mainland to the Outer Banks.

And on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, a small tornado spawned by Hermine knocked over two trailers and injured four people, authorities said. A homeless man in Marion County, in the northern part of the state, died when a tree was ripped from the ground by high winds and fell on him. “Oh my God. My hands were white knuckles, and the water was so high”.

A beachgoer stands at the edge of the water, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in Bridgehampton, N.Y., on the southeastern shore of Long Island, where the effects of storm system Hermine could be seen in the rough surf and a ban on swim.

The couple, both in their 60s, said they knew the storm would blow over, even as friends texted their concerns.

Derrick said by phone that the main road was “a little stop and go” traffic when “this weekend would normally be a parking lot”.

Hermine’s position Monday southeast of Nantucket created 20-foot waves and wind gusts of up to 50 kph about 55 miles southeast of the island, Buttrick said.

In fact, as meteorologist Eric Holtaus wrote for Pacific Standard Mag on Saturday, Hermine’s impact could be worse than Hurricane Sandy for certain communities, such as those in coastal New Jersey. 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. He called the wet forecast: “definitely disappointing”.

In Virginia Beach, the storm forced Bruce Springsteen to move a Saturday night concert to Monday.

New Jersey officials ordered swimmers out of the surf.

Farther up the coast, Amtrak cancelled or altered some service as the storm approached.

The weather service has advised people to stay away from flooding-prone areas – particularly, anywhere near the water.

The coastal flooding has remained minor and the highest high tide will be Monday morning.

With about 300,000 Florida homes still without electricity on Saturday, Gov. Rick Scott said restoring power is the state’s top priority.