A powerful and deadly storm churned off the US Middle Atlantic Coast on Sunday, where it was expected to spoil the Labor Day holiday weekend with high winds, soaking rains and surging seas after passing over North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The storm, dubbed Hermine, claimed at least two lives, in Florida and North Carolina.
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 mph (119 kph) by Sunday evening. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expected the storm to move slowly up the coast before stalling off New Jersey, where it could linger for days.
“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 senior hurricane specialist Daniel Brown.
The surge was expected to extend from Virginia to New Jersey.
The NHC forecast the storm would turn northeast and north later on Sunday, eventually moving to about 100 miles south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, by Wednesday evening, and continue on an east-northeast track over the following 24 hours.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency in three coastal counties of the state, which was devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Source: Arab News