New York / North Carolina – Hurricane Erin strengthened again on Wednesday, forcing beach closures across the U.S. East Coast as officials warned of dangerous surf, flooding, and life-threatening rip currents stretching from Florida to New England.
The storm’s outer bands brushed North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where rising water forced the closure of Highway 12 on Hatteras Island and cut off ferry access to Ocracoke Island. Officials said waves as high as 20 feet (6 meters) could erode protective dunes and threaten dozens of beach homes already weakened by years of erosion.
East Coast on Alert
- New York City closed all beaches to swimming through Thursday as 13-foot waves threatened Long Island and low-lying areas of the city.
- Parts of New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware also shut beaches temporarily.
- Nantucket, Massachusetts, is expected to see waves of over 10 feet later this week.
Despite the warnings, rescuers pulled dozens of swimmers from rip currents in North Carolina over the past two days, with more than 80 rescues on Monday and 12 on Tuesday alone.
Surfing and Storm Watching
While many residents prepared for flooding, surfers gathered in Virginia Beach, where Erin fueled some of the best waves in years for the East Coast Surfing Championships. The competition will pause Thursday as the hurricane blows past.
A Large, Dangerous Storm
The National Hurricane Center reported Erin remained a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday night, packing sustained winds of 110 mph (180 kph). The storm’s tropical-force winds extended nearly 500 miles (800 km) — wide enough to stretch from New York City to Pittsburgh.
Officials stressed that Erin is unlikely to make direct landfall but warned that “dangerous conditions can be felt far from the eye.”
Meanwhile, forecasters are monitoring two more tropical disturbances east of Erin that could strengthen into named storms, raising concerns about an active late-summer hurricane season.
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