Tag Archives: Flooding

Death toll climbs as floods swamp North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew

rescue workers during floods in North Carolina

(Adds additional death and other details on flooding)

By Carlo Allegri and Gene Cherry

LUMBERTON, N.C./KINSTON, N.C., Oct 11 (Reuters) – Flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew has displaced several thousand people in North Carolina, and authorities were helping more evacuate on Tuesday as swollen rivers threatened a wide swath of the state.

Governor Pat McCrory warned of “extremely dangerous” conditions in the coming days in central and eastern North Carolina, where several rivers were at record or near-record levels.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, killed at least 1,000 people in Haiti last week before barreling up the U.S. southeastern coast and causing at least 30 deaths in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

McCrory’s office said four additional deaths were confirmed on Tuesday in North Carolina, raising the death toll in the state to 18. One person was reported as missing.

An additional U.S. death occurred on Monday night in Lumberton, North Carolina, where officials said a highway patrol officer fatally shot a man who became hostile and flashed a handgun during search-and-rescue efforts in fast-running floodwater.

Nearly 4,000 people have taken refuge in North Carolina shelters, including about 1,200 people in the hard-hit Lumberton area, where the Lumber River had crested at almost 4 feet (1.2 meters) above the prior record set in 2004 after Hurricane Frances.

Water blanketed the city of 21,000 people, leaving businesses flooded, homes with water up to their roof lines and drivers stranded after a stretch of Interstate-95 became impassable.

“We lost everything,” said Sarah McCallum, 62, who was staying in a shelter set up in an agricultural center after floodwaters drove her from her home of 20 years.

State officials are particularly concerned about victims like McCallum, who have no flood insurance because they do not live in areas typically prone to inundation. U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina, which will make federal funding available to people in the hardest-hit areas.

Obama approved a similar declaration on Tuesday for South Carolina, where Matthew made landfall on Saturday. State officials are now urging residents to prepare for potential flooding from the Waccamaw and Little Pee Dee rivers.

About 532,000 homes and businesses remained without power in the U.S. Southeast on Tuesday, down from the peak of around 2.2 million on Sunday morning when the storm was still battering the Carolina coasts.

WORST FLOODING SINCE FLOYD

Matthew dumped more than a foot (30 cm) of rain in areas of North Carolina already soaked from heavy September rainfall. Ithas triggered the worst flooding in the state since Hurricane Floyd in September 1999, the National Weather Service said.

That storm caused devastating floods in North Carolina, resulting in 35 deaths, 7,000 destroyed homes and more than $3 billion in damages in the state.

In Matthew’s wake, officials are monitoring a number of overtopped or breaching dams in addition to the threat of inland river flooding, the governor’s office said.

Concerns about a potential breach of the Woodlake Dam, which led to overnight evacuations in the central North Carolina town of Spring Lake, had eased by Tuesday afternoon after it was reinforced with 700 sandbags, but a mandatory evacuation was still in effect for nearby residents.

McCrory warned that the Tar River was expected to crest on Wednesday in Greenville, where a mandatory evacuation order is already in place.

Officials remain concerned about Kinston, where significant flooding was already occurring from the Neuse River, which is expected to crest at about 27 feet (8 meters) on Saturday, just shy of the Floyd record.

Retired construction worker Wesley Turner, 71, said he fled his home near Kinston with his dogs on Friday after his power went out and the water quickly rose to about chest deep.

After several nights in a shelter, he did not know on Tuesday whether he had anything to return to.

“I can’t get to my house because it is under water,” Turner said.

(Additional reporting by Letitia Stein and Joseph Ax; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Bill Trott, Tom Brown and Bill Rigby)

Rivers swollen by Hurricane Matthew inundate North Carolina towns

A flooded church is pictured after Hurricane Matthew passes in Lumberton, North Carolina

By Gene Cherry

KINSTON, N.C. (Reuters) – Authorities in North Carolina helped residents evacuate on Tuesday as floodwaters inundated some towns and threatened others in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which killed 14 people in the state.

Governor Pat McCrory, who announced the new death toll, warned of “extremely dangerous” conditions in the next 72 hours in central and eastern parts of North Carolina, where several rivers are in major flood stage and nearing record levels.

Wendy Key, 40, fled with her six children to a shelter in Kinston to escape flooding from the Neuse River, located about a mile from their rented home, which she had just redecorated and stocked with a new refrigerator and stove. Her brother told her the water was now waist-deep in the house.

“The water started coming pretty quickly and we had to get up and get ready in no time,” Key said. “It was very alarming and disturbing.”

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, killed at least 1,000 people in Haiti last week before barreling up the U.S. southeastern coast and killing more than 20 people in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

The storm dumped more than a foot (30 cm) of rain in areas of North Carolina already soaked from heavy September rainfall, prompting concern that the state could see its worst flooding since Hurricane Floyd in September 1999.

That storm caused record floods in North Carolina and was blamed for 35 deaths, 7,000 destroyed homes and more than $3 billion in damages in the state.

The flooding from Matthew prompted President Barack Obama to declare on Monday that a major disaster exists in North Carolina, making federal recovery funding available in 31 counties, McCrory said.

Emergency officials have conducted more than 2,000 rescues in the state, where 32 school systems are closed, major highways remain blocked and nearly 4,000 people have taken refuge in shelters.

Officials are monitoring a number of overtopped or breaching dams in addition to the threat of inland flooding from rivers, the governor’s office said.

Two of the additional deaths reported by McCrory on Tuesday were of people found in vehicles submerged in water. Three people are considered missing, he said.

The governor urged residents to heed evacuation orders and to avoid driving through flooded areas.

“Too many people have died,” he told reporters at the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh. “And we don’t want any more to die.”

He said a man was fatally shot by a state highway patrol officer in Lumberton on Monday night after a confrontation occurred during rescue efforts in a flooded area.

McCrory said he did not yet have full details about the incident, which is being investigated by state police.

(Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Bill Trott)

Hundreds stranded in North Carolina floods after Hurricane Matthew

Men carry belongings from a neighbours home as flood waters rise after Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina,

By Judy Royal

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (Reuters) – Floodwaters left hundreds of people stranded in their homes and on rooftops in North Carolina early on Monday, and officials warned life-threatening flooding from swollen rivers would continue for days after Hurricane Matthew ravaged the southeastern United States.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti.

In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 21 people with nearly half of the fatalities reported in North Carolina.

After receiving more than a foot (30 cm) of rain from Matthew during the weekend, skies were clear over North Carolina on Monday but the storm’s after-effects were creating major problems by overwhelming rivers and breaching levees.

“Hurricane Matthew is off the map, well into the ocean, but it still is right here in North Carolina,” Governor Pat McCrory said at a new conference on Monday. “This is an extremely dangerous situation.”

Ten people have died in the state, including a person killed after a car was driven into floodwaters and swept away in Johnston County on Sunday, McCrory said. With rivers rising, the governor said he expected the number of dead to increase.

Some 1,500 residents were stuck in their homes and on rooftops in Lumberton after an unexpected river levee breach Monday morning, McCrory said. Air and water rescues were underway in the city, where hundreds of people evacuated their homes overnight hours before the breach and floodwaters continued to rise quickly, he said.

McCrory said several other swollen rivers in the central and eastern parts of the state were expected to hit record levels and would crest throughout the week. Residents in several cities were urged to evacuate.

The National Weather Service said “life-threatening flooding” would continue on Monday over eastern portions of the state.

BREACHED DAMS

Many coastal and inland communities remained under water, either from coastal storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks.

All 2,000 residents of Princeville were told on Sunday to evacuate due to flash flood risks. The town lies on the Tar River about 25 miles (40 km) north of Greenville.

Several dams have breached in the area around Cumberland County, south of Raleigh, Michael Martin, fire marshal for the city of Fayetteville, said by phone.

Rescue teams still are on alert and there have been 1,400 people rescued. More than 600 National Guard troops were aiding in rescue and recovery efforts in the state.

In neighboring South Carolina, a vehicle trying to cross a flooded roadway in Florence County was swept away by floodwaters, killing one person, Governor Nikki Haley said on Sunday.

Jake Williams of Florence said on early Monday that his power had been out since Saturday morning.

“Trees are down in every neighborhood on almost every road,” he said. “I am no weather man but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn’t stand up to it.”

In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received more than 13 inches (33 cm) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. The city said some 200 vehicles were abandoned and many roads remained impassable.

Norfolk, which declared a state of emergency, said efforts were underway to clear streets of debris and abandoned vehicles with city offices, libraries and recreational centers set to re-open Monday.

While power was being restored in some areas, 1.2 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, down from Sunday’s peak of 2.2 million.

Before the National Hurricane Center discontinued tropical storm warnings for Matthew, it was about 200 miles (320 km) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and heading away from land as of late on Sunday.

The National Hurricane Center said on Monday morning that tropical storm Nicole was expected to strengthen into Tuesday. The storm was about 500 miles (800 km) south of Bermuda and moving northward toward the island.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs until Nov. 30.

(Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin and Laila Kearney; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Bill Trott)

Focus shifts to recovery and flooding as Matthew heads out to sea

A Baptist church is surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Matthew hit Lumberton, North Carolina

By Judy Royal

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (Reuters) – Residents of the southeastern United States ravaged by Hurricane Matthew turned their focus on Monday toward recovery and clean-up, but officials in several states warned that deadly flooding could continue as swollen rivers crest in the coming days.

Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti.

In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 19 people.

While power was being restored in some areas, 1.6 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, down from Sunday’s peak of 2.2 million. Officials were working to clear streets of fallen trees and abandoned vehicles.

With five people reported missing and rivers rising, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he expected the death toll to rise. Eight people in the state were known to have died so far.

People look around the debris of the pier damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina,

People look around the debris of the pier damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Randall Hill

McCrory said several swelling rivers were expected to hit record levels and would not crest for days.

“Hurricane Matthew is off the map, but it is still with us and it is still deadly,” he said.

The National Weather Service said “life-threatening flooding” would continue on Monday over eastern portions of the state.

Many coastal and inland communities remained under water, either from coastal storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks.

All 2,000 residents of Princeville, were told on Sunday to evacuate due to flash flood risks. The town lies on the Tar River about 25 miles (40 km) north of Greenville.

Several dams have breached in the area around Cumberland County, south of Raleigh, Michael Martin, fire marshal for the city of Fayetteville, said by phone.

Swiftwater rescue teams are still on alert and there have been 255 water rescue calls and 701 people rescued.

In neighboring South Carolina, a vehicle trying to cross a flooded roadway in Florence County was swept away by flood waters, killing one person, Governor Nikki Haley said.

Jake Williams, a resident of Florence, said on early Monday that his power had been out since Saturday morning.

“Trees are down in every neighborhood on almost every road,” he said, adding “I am no weather man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn’t stand up to it.”

In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received over 13 inches (33 cm) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. The city said that some 200 vehicles were abandoned and many roads remained impassable.

Norfolk, which declared a state of emergency, said efforts were under way to clear streets of debris and abandoned vehicles with city offices, libraries and recreational centers set to re-open Monday.

ROOFTOP RESCUE

The storm center was about 200 miles (320 km) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and heading away from land, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Sunday 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) report. It discontinued all tropical storm warnings.

The storm still packed hurricane force winds as far as 90 miles (150 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 240 miles (390 km) away.

U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Florida, freeing up federal money to help the states repair damaged infrastructure and remove debris.

McCrory said 334 rescue workers risked their lives carrying out 877 rescues overnight.

In one of the dramatic rescues in North Carolina, out-of-state firefighters helped save three people from the roof of an SUV in inland Cumberland County, where more than 500 rescues took place.

Flash flooding turned a creek into a “roaring, raging river” that swept the vehicle off the roadway on Saturday night, said Battalion Chief Joe Downey of the Fire Department of New York. He was part of a team from three states that carried out 64 rescues on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

“Water was almost up to the roof of the SUV,” Downey said in a telephone interview. “It was bad. They had nowhere to go.”

Anthony Branch carries belongings from his home as flood waters rise after Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina

Anthony Branch carries belongings from his home as flood waters rise after Hurricane Matthew in Lumberton, North Carolina October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane

Though Hurricane Matthew has moved out to sea, the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30, remains active.

The National Hurricane Center said on Monday morning that tropical storm Nicole was expected to strengthen into Tuesday. The storm is around 500 miles (800 km) south of Bermuda and moving northward towards the island.

(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C., Eric Johnson in Seattle, and Frank McGurty, Chris Michaud and Gina Cherlus in New York, Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Alison Williams)

What are Haiti’s humanitarian needs after Hurricane Matthew?

People wade across a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes through Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

By Sebastien Malo

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Hurricane Matthew, which slammed into Haiti this week, has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the impoverished nation since a devastating earthquake hit six years ago, according to the United Nations.

The storm ripped through Haiti on Tuesday, causing heavy flooding and knocking down houses.

Citing Haitian authorities, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at least 350,000 people needed immediate assistance.

The full impact remained unclear, however, with communications down in many of the worst-affected areas.

Here are what some of the world’s leading aid agencies expect will be humanitarian needs in Haiti in the storm’s wake.

Helene Robin, Handicap International’s head of emergency operations:

“Initial information reaching us is worrying. Many affected people have lost their homes, crops, and livestock. We will have to face a logistical challenge to reach these very remote areas and provide humanitarian assistance which these isolated populations need. We also fear that the floods caused by Hurricane Matthew entail substantial health risks such as the spread of cholera.” Carlos Veloso, World Food Programme’s country director:

“Because of the severity in the south, we expect that certain roads will be closed and we need to repair them immediately. The second big challenge will be the access to populations in the mountains in the south. Normally access here is not easy, and with a hurricane the strength of Matthew it will become more difficult.” Sylvie Savard, country representative in the joint office of the Lutheran World Federation and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Haiti:

“The most affected groups are those most vulnerable living in areas along the coast, in low lying areas or close to steep slopes. Many people, especially in rural areas, live in poorly constructed homes that could not stand up to the winds and rains. People have been evacuated to save their lives, but the storm and the floods will have swept away what little they have.” Jean Claude Fignole, Oxfam’s influence program director in Haiti:

“Our first response will concentrate on saving lives by providing safe water and hygiene kits to avoid the spread of cholera. Right now there are at least 10,000 people displaced from their homes and in need of safe shelter, water and food.” Ravi Tripptrap, Malteser International Americas’ executive director:

“The floods have been particularly damaging in the slum community of Cité Soleil. Sewage canals are overflowing and filling the streets with garbage and human waste; make-shift shanty homes have been washed away. This is where our help is needed.”

(Reporting by Sebastien Malo, Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

Hurricane Matthew’s threat to Haiti grows, some resist shelters

Families aboard a plane to evacuate them

By Makini Brice and Joseph Guyler Delva

LES CAYES/PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Hurricane Matthew edged closer to Haiti on Monday, bringing 130- mile-per-hour (215 kph) winds and torrential rain that could wreak havoc in the Caribbean nation, although some 2,000 people in one coastal town refused to evacuate.

Matthew’s center is expected to near southwestern Haiti and Jamaica on Monday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Crawling towards Haiti’s Les Cayes, Jamaica and Cuba at five miles per hour (seven kph), the storm could be just as slow leaving, giving its winds and rain more time to cause damage.

“We are worried about the slow pace of Hurricane Matthew, which will expose Haiti to much more rain, and the country is particularly vulnerable to flooding,” said Ronald Semelfort, director of Haiti’s national meteorology center.

The storm comes at a bad time for Haiti. The poorest country in the Americas is set to hold a long-delayed election next Sunday.

A combination of weak government and precarious living conditions make the country particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. More than 200,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck in 2010.

“Even in normal times, when we have rain we have flooding that sometimes kills people,” said Semelfort, comparing Matthew to 1963’s Hurricane Flora, which swept away entire villages and killed thousands in Haiti.

RESISTANCE

In Jamaica too, officials were scrambling to protect the vulnerable, as residents boarded up windows and flocked to supermarkets to stock up on food, water, flashlights and beer.

In Cuba, which Matthew is due to reach on Tuesday, evacuation operations were well underway, with people voluntarily moving their belongings into neighbors’ houses or heading to shelters. Some even found cliff-side caves they said were the safest places to ride out storms.

Matthew was about 245 miles (3955 km) south-southeast of Jamaica’s Kingston early on Monday and moving north toward Haiti. The hurricane center ranked it at Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.

In Haiti, some streets were already flooded in Les Cayes, a town of about 70,000 people that was previously ravaged by hurricanes in 1781 and 1788.

But Haitian officials said about 2,000 residents of the La Savane neighborhood of Les Cayes refused to heed government calls to move out of their seaside homes, even though they were just a few miles from where the center of the hurricane is forecast to make landfall.

As the wind died down at night, people remained outside in La Savane, hanging out on porches, playing checkers and dominoes outside, and listening to music.

“The police and local authorities and our evacuation teams have been instructed to do all they can to move those people,” Interior Minister Francois Anick Joseph said.

“They have also been instructed to move them by force if necessary. We have an obligation to protect those peoples lives, even against their will.”

However, the chief of police for the southern region, Luc Pierre, said it was almost impossible to force such a large number of people to leave their homes.

“I would have to arrest all those people and take them to a safe place. This is very difficult,” he said, adding that the power had already gone off in the town.

Poor Haitians are at times reluctant to leave their homes in the face of impending storms, fearing their belongings will be stolen after they leave.

Only a few families had opted to move to a high school in La Savane, designated as a shelter for up to 600 people. It was without electricity and lit only by candlelight.

“There are babies crying here; there is nothing at all,” said Nadja, 32, who was pregnant with her fourth child.

(Additional reporting by Sarah Marsh and Gabriel Stargardter; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Larry King)

Flash floods in Indonesia kill 20; rescuers hunt for missing

A view of the damage caused after the Cimanuk River overflowed from heavy rains in Garut, West Java, Indonesia

GARUT, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian search and rescue teams worked on Wednesday to find victims of flash floods that killed 20 people and damaged hundreds of homes, authorities said.

The floods hit the Garut area, about 200 km (125 miles) southeast of the capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday after torrential rain.

“We’ve reported that we found 20 bodies and we’ve identified 15 of them,” said Endah Trisnawati, a member of a police disaster victims identification unit.

It was not clear how many people were missing but some officials in the area said it could be up to 15. Some media reported 20 people were unaccounted for.

Authorities said search and rescue operations would go on.

Military personnel and volunteers helped evacuate about 1,000 residents of the area.

Debris floated in gradually receding floodwater in inundated villages and there appeared to be widespread damage to vehicles and buildings.

Flash floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, often caused by heavy rain at this time of year.

(Addtional reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor in Jakarta; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Typhoon cuts power, lashes China with wind and rain before weakening

People wading through flooded street after Typhoon Meranti

BEIJING (Reuters) – Typhoon Meranti slammed into southeastern China on Thursday with strong winds and lashing rain that cut power to 1.65 million homes, but there were no reports of more casualties in what has been described as the strongest storm of the year globally.

The storm, registered as a super typhoon before losing strength after sweeping across southern Taiwan, made landfall in the early hours near the major city of Xiamen.

Dozens of flights and train services have been canceled, state television said, disrupting travel at the start of the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Pictures on state media showed flooded streets, fallen trees and crushed cars in Xiamen as rescuers in boats evacuated people.

About 320,000 homes were without power in Xiamen. Across the whole of Fujian province, where Xiamen is located, 1.65 million homes had no electricity, state television said.

Large sections of Xiamen also suffered water supply disruptions and some windows in tall buildings shattered, sending glass showering onto the ground below, state news agency Xinhua said.

The report said it was the strongest typhoon to hit that part of the country since the founding of Communist China in 1949 and the strongest so far this year anywhere in the world.

Tens of thousands of people had already been evacuated as the storm approached and fishing boats called back to port.

One person died and 38 were injured in Taiwan, the Central Emergency Operation Centre there said, as the typhoon hit the southern part of the island on Wednesday.

Meranti was a Category 5 typhoon, the strongest classification awarded by Tropical Storm Risk storm tracker, before it made landfall on the mainland and has since been downgraded to Category 2.

Typhoons are common at this time of year, picking up strength as they cross the warm waters of the Pacific and bringing fierce winds and rain when they hit land.

Meranti will continue to lose strength as it pushes inland and up toward China’s commercial capital of Shanghai, but will bring heavy rain.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Faith Hung in TAIPEI; Editing by Nick Macfie and Paul Tait)

Storm Julia weakens into a depression, meandering off of U.S. coast

Map of Tropical Storm Julia

(Updates with details)

Sept 15 (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Julia weakened into a depression and is expected to meander off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina for the next few days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday.

Julia is located about 60 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph), the Miami-based weather forecaster said.

“A slow and erratic motion is expected over the next couple of days, and the track forecast keeps Julia meandering offshore of the Georgia and southern South Carolina coastlines into Saturday,” the NHC said.

Julia, the 10th named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, was moving northeast at 2 mph just off the U.S. coast, as little change TO its strength was expected during next two days, it said.

Heavy rain combined with high tides raised concerns of flooding in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, and other coastal parts of the state into Thursday morning, forecasters said.

Some residents in coastal communities were offered sandbags to prepare for flooding in low-lying areas.

Since late Tuesday, Julia has dumped heavy rains and toppled trees in the region, but has not caused significant damage, the National Weather Service said.

On Thursday morning, the hurricane center also was tracking a tropical depression that was expected to bring heavy rains to the Cape Verde islands off West Africa. On its forecasted track, the system would remain far away from the coastal United States through early next week.

(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru and Brendan O’Brien
in Milwaukee; Editing by Alison Williams)

Lurking Hermine spares much of U.S. East Coast, could regain hurricane strength

Tropical Storm Hermine is pictured off the coast of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic

By Daniel Trotta and Chris Prentice

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Atlantic storm Hermine, which has killed two people, lurked off the middle of the U.S. East Coast late on Sunday while threatening to regain hurricane strength, after having spared the region the brunt of its wind, rain and tidal surge.

Forecasters warned swimmers and boaters to avoid the risk of deadly surf churned up by the storm and stay out of treacherous waters during the Labor Day holiday weekend, when many Americans celebrate the end of summer.

Hermine was still packing maximum sustained surface winds of nearly 70 mph (113 kph) late on Sunday, and forecasters said it  could intensify slightly to reach hurricane strength again, before it starts to dwindle later on Monday.

But for now, its strongest winds were extending outward by about 230 miles (370 km), failing to reach U.S. shores.

Hermine was forecast to bring up to 2 inches (5 cm) of rain to southern New England on Monday, after having hit land in Florida on Friday, and churning up the southeastern seaboard.

Sandbags and tarps cover the entrance to a subway station near Battery Park as New York City prepares for potential flooding as post-tropical storm Hermine stalls off the east coast of the United States

Sandbags and tarps cover the entrance to a subway station near Battery Park as New York City prepares for potential flooding as post-tropical storm Hermine stalls off the east coast of the United States, September 4, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich

Then it merged with a conventional weather front, to be reclassified on Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone.

But Hermine was not expected to make landfall again, said Robbie Berg, an official of the National Hurricane Center.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect Sunday night from the Delaware and New Jersey shores north to New York’s Long Island and beyond to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island off Massachusetts, but was canceled for New York City, which Berg said appeared largely out of harm’s way.

Potential storm-surge inundation levels of no more than 1 to 3 feet (30 cm to 1 m) were expected in coastal areas.

As the threat to New Jersey waned, Governor Chris Christie ordered Island Beach State Park reopened for Monday, while warning that lingering rip currents and rough surf might still make the ocean unsafe for swimmers.

At 11 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Hermine’s center was about 325 miles (523 km) southeast of Long Island, the eastern tip of New York, the hurricane center said.

It was expected to “meander slowly” off the mid-Atlantic region, moving north-northeast at only 3 mph (5 kph) and stay at least 300 miles (480 km) from shore before beginning to weaken by Monday night, the agency said.

WANING STORM THREAT BEYOND COAST

The storm claimed at least two lives, in Florida and North Carolina, but the widespread power outages and flooding that battered Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas had yet to materialize farther north, where alarming news reports scared many tourists away from the beach on Sunday.

Those who stayed awoke to sunshine, but stronger-than-usual winds and choppy seas.

“It was a little overhyped by the media,” said Andrew Thulin, assistant general manager of Daddy O Hotel Restaurant in the New Jersey township of Long Beach.

“It killed the weekend for everybody down here.”

Officials mindful of the 2012 devastation of Superstorm Sandy took every precaution. Elsewhere in the state coastal roads were reported flooded, and beaches engulfed by the sea.

Hermine became the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, packing winds of 80 mph (129 kph), and knocking out power to 300,000 homes and businesses. Downgraded to a tropical storm within hours, it still packed a wallop.

(Additional reporting by Steve Gorman from Los Angeles and Chris Michaud from New York)