Beach closures extended because of storm Hermine

Post-Tropical Storm Hermine moved farther to the east than expected and away from the East Coast on Sunday morning, but forecasters said the storm was likely to hang around off the coast for the next few days.

“These are more seasoned surfers who live for the thrill of these waves”, said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.

At 11 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Hermine’s center was about 325 miles (523 km) southeast of Long Island, the eastern tip of NY, the hurricane center said.

The storm was projected to dump up to 7 inches (18 cm) of rain in southeast Virginia and Atlantic coastal parts of Maryland and up to 4 inches (10 cm) in southern DE, southern and eastern New Jersey and Long Island, Brown said. But the threat of high winds and storm surges had already ruined holiday plans for many, as beaches closed across the Northeast and were expected to remain closed on Monday.

Millions of residents, from Virginia to New England, are expected to remain under tropical storm watches and warnings for the rest of Labor Day weekend as post-cyclone Hermine meanders up the Eastern Seaboard.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency for 12 counties along the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland.

Tropical strom force winds are expected to arrive early Monday at the shore, later than previously predicted. A rougher surf cleared portions of the beachfront.

Despite the tropical storm not making landfall on New York City, it could still hit it with high winds and the public beaches remained closed on Labor Day. “Don’t think that nothing is going to happen, because something is going to happen”.

It has caused two deaths, inflicted widespread property damage and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people from Florida to Virginia.

On Sunday, Dominion Virginia Power said crews were working to restore power to about 5,000 customers in North Carolina and 1,500 in southeast Virginia.

In Virginia Beach, Virginia, Seth Broudy, 45, owner of the Seth Broudy School of Surf, said high winds and tides flooded parking lots by his home on Saturday.

It was classified as a Category 1 hurricane until it lost strength while cutting across Florida and Georgia, but forecasters expected winds to return to hurricane force of more than 74 miles per hour (119 kph) by Sunday evening. “The State Emergency Operations Center is fully operational and tracking the storm’s every movement and deploying strategic assets to Long Island and New York City”.

“If you weren’t in the flood-prone area, it was like a normal day”, he said.

Michael Mann at Pennsylvania State University noted that this century’s 1-foot sea-level rise in New York City meant 25 more square miles flooded during Superstorm Sandy, causing billions in additional damage.

Since sea levels have risen up to a foot because of global warming, the storm surges pushed by Hermine could be even more damaging, climate scientists say.

In North Carolina, a tractor trailer overturned on a bridge over the Alligator River, killing the driver.

A handful of people came out to the beach near the famous Steel Pier amusement park, mostly to look at the rough seas. A homeless man was killed by a falling tree Friday in Florida.

Overnight, four people suffered minor injuries when a tornado hit a campground in Hatteras Village, Dare County, North Carolina, officials said.