Erin: Coastal flooding at high tides forecast in Carolinas, Virginia
The article reports on Hurricane erin, which is causing high tide storm surges and coastal flooding along the carolinas and Virginia. Forecasts predict storm surges of 1 to 3 feet between South Carolina and Virginia, and 2 to 4 feet on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.As of Wednesday morning, Erin was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 100 mph, moving north-northwest away from the mainland.
Hurricane-force winds extend 90 miles from the center, with tropical storm-force winds reaching 265 miles. Rainfall along the Carolina coast is expected to be light, with damage primarily from storm surge rather than rain or wind.Coastal flooding has already resulted in water overtopping dunes and flooding parts of North Carolina’s Highway 12, which connects the Outer Banks. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for Ocracoke island and Hatteras Island, with emergency declarations in multiple counties.
Storm surge warnings are active from cape Lookout to duck, and tropical storm warnings span from Beaufort Inlet to the Virginia border. Coastal flooding is expected to intensify around Wednesday evening high tides in South Carolina and southern North Carolina, with southern Delmarva Peninsula and Chesapeake Bay areas affected by Thursday evening.
The storm’s path is predicted to remain offshore, moving parallel to the Atlantic coast past the Carolinas and Virginia on Thursday and reaching Maine by Friday. Coastal rescues due to rip currents have already been important, with between 75 to 100 rescues reported. The article also notes relief that Erin is not making a direct landfall in North Carolina, which is still recovering from previous damage caused by Hurricane Helene last year.
Erin: Coastal flooding at high tides forecast in Carolinas, Virginia
(The Center Square) – High tide peak storm surges from Hurricane Erin are forecast from 1 to 3 feet between South Carolina and Virginia, and 2 to 4 feet on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Erin at 8 a.m. Wednesday was Category 2 at 100 mph maximum sustained winds and moving 13 mph to the north-northwest, having started to make the turn away from the mainland as expected. The National Hurricane Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the storm’s center was 645 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, and 900 miles west-southwest of Bermuda.
Veteran meteorologists have marveled at the size of the storm.
Hurricane force winds (74 mph or greater) extend outward 90 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds (39 mph or greater) extend 265 miles from the center. Rain for the Carolina coast is just 1 to 2 inches Wednesday and into Thursday, with damage coming more from storm surge than rain or wind.
The next high tides on the Outer Banks are 6:18 p.m. Wednesday, and Thursday at 6:45 a.m. and 7:10 p.m. Erin has already sent Atlantic Ocean water over dunes and N.C. 12, the famed 148-mile roadway linking peninsulas and islands of the Outer Banks.
Mandatory evacuations have been issued for Ocracoke Island in Hyde County and Hatteras Island in Dare County. Each county has declared an emergency.
Storm surge warnings were in effect from Cape Lookout to Duck; a tropical storm warning was in effect from Beaufort Inlet to the Virginia border inclusive of the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds; and a tropical storm watch was in effect from the North Carolina-Virginia border to Chincoteague, Va.
The Wednesday evening high tide for coastal South Carolina, including Charleston, and southern North Carolina is being closely watched for flooding. Early Thursday evening is the expected time of coastal flooding from the southern Delmarva Peninsula and southern Chesapeake Bay down to eastern North Carolina.
The storm’s projected path through the weekend skirts parallel to moving more away from the Atlantic Seaboard. Thursday’s pass is by the Carolinas and Virginia, and Friday the storm will be moving by Maine.
Coastal rescues from rip currents in North Carolina, according to published reports, have numbered between 75 and 100 over Monday and Tuesday.
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As often happens with hurricanes, water began to run over N.C. 12 on Tuesday. The highway begins at U.S. 70 at the community of Sea Level and runs to a point just north of Corolla and south of the Currituck Banks North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve. Two ferries, Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Island and Cedar Island to Ocracoke Island, are part of the route.
The storm’s landfall miss of the state is particularly welcome in light of Hurricane Helene. Recovery from that storm is in its 47th week. Helene killed 107 in the state, 236 across seven states in the South, and caused an estimated $60 billion in damage to North Carolina.
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