Hurricane Erin is bringing life-threatening rip currents and dangerous surf to the US east coast, with officials warning the risks will last for at least a couple more days as the storm tracks north.
The storm has already soaked parts of the Atlantic coastline, including the North Carolina Outer Banks, a system of barrier islands.
Tropical storm conditions would persist there on Thursday, and start to reach Virginia, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Further north still, including in parts of New England, are warnings of high winds.
Although Hurricane Erin is still not expected to make landfall, its effects are being felt in the closure of beaches and the threat of flooding and road closures.
It was still a “large and growing hurricane” with maximum sustained winds of about 105mph (165km/h), the NHC noted.
“Life-threatening surf and rip currents will be churning up and down the East Coast through the next couple of days,” officials from the National Weather Service (NWS) wrote in their own update.
A rip current is a body of water that flows out to sea, potentially dragging swimmers with it, while dangerous surf describes powerful waves that could post another threat.
“Beachgoers should follow advice from lifeguards, local authorities, and beach warning flags,” the NWS advised.
US weather experts have previously warned that the 2025 hurricane season, which runs from 1 June to 30 November, could have an above-average number of storms.
Warmer sea temperatures — made more likely by climate change — and generally favourable atmospheric conditions are behind the forecast.
At the same time, cuts to American research are raising fears about the ability to track and prepare for these often deadly storms.
In North Carolina, which is still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Helene, a state of emergency was declared earlier in the week by Governor Josh Stein.
Stein implored swimmers to stop entering waters off the coast after dozens of people needed to be rescued off Wrightsville Beach on Monday.
In the Outer Banks, the communities of Hatteras and Ocracoke were ordered to be evacuated, due to fears they could become disconnected from other islands.
A 96-year-old motel owner on Hatteras, Carol Dillon, told CBS News that “at my age, you take what comes”.
But she feared the storm could eat away at the land on which her premises was built. “This is our livelihood,” she explained. “We could lose those two buildings that are in the water right now. I’m hoping we won’t — I do a lot of praying.”
Hurricane Erin, the first of the 2025 Atlantic season, reached category-five status on Saturday. It has fluctuated in strength since then and is currently a category-two storm.
In Turks and Caicos, an overseas British territory, authorities suspended public services on the largest island while the storm was passing.
More than 150,000 people were left without power in Puerto Rico after high winds damaged electricity lines, according to local energy company Luma.
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