After causing flooding surf on North Carolina's Outer Banks, Hurricane Erin began pulling away from the U.S. East Coast Thursday, but officials warned that that rip currents remain a threat going into the weekend.
The storm weakened slightly by Thursday night and was a Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds as it moved northeast between the New England coast and Bermuda, the Hurricane Center said.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency Thursday and said dangerous ocean conditions will remain Friday.
“Over the past couple of days, we have seen the effects of Hurricane Erin along the Jersey Shore in the form of dangerous rip tides. Today and tomorrow will be no exception,” Murphy said. “As the storm moves past New Jersey over the next 24 hours, we are expecting high surf and rip currents, coastal and flash flooding, and a high erosion risk in parts of the state."
Dangerous rip currents and coastal flooding will remain threats in the area into early Saturday, the hurricane center said, and wind gusts approaching tropical storm strength were likely for the the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts into Friday morning.
"Primary impacts remain in the form of high surf, coastal flooding, and dangerous rip currents through tomorrow," the National Weather Service for the New York City and tri-state regions said Thursday.
In Dare County, North Carolina, where Hatteras Island is located, wind gusts of almost 50 mph were recorded as the storm brushed past the Outer Banks, the weather service for that region said. Residents of Hatteras Island were ordered to leave ahead of the hurricane.
At 11 p.m. Thursday the center of the hurricane was about 535 south-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and it was moving east-northeast at 22 mph, the hurricane center said.
The storm was forecast to pass south of Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday.
But even though the storm is out to sea, it remained "a very large system" and hurricane-force winds extended up to 105 miles from its center, the hurricane center said in a late Thursday bulletin. Tropical storm-force winds extended to around 320 miles.
The storm sent large waves spilling over dunes and onto parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks on Wednesday, after a state of emergency was declared throughout the state Tuesday and evacuation orders were in place for counties on the coast.
The town of Kill Devil Hills, which is on the Outer Banks, said Thursday that high tides and the storm sent water breaching sand dunes at beach access points, which had been expected.
North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray on Thursday warned people to stay out of the ocean, but said that conditions should improve Friday as the storm moves away.
