With red flags – even some double red flags – flying up and down the coast, an eastern North Carolina weather expect is warning people at the beach not to swim or surf while Hurricane Erin approaches and churns offshore.
National Weather Service Newport/Morehead City Science and Operations Officer Ryan Ellis said, “It's just not safe to go in the ocean right now.”
Ellis said one of the biggest threats will be waves that could reach as high as 20 feet. “Those are numbers that we don't usually see, and so we want to make sure people stay safe. Rip currents, longshore currents, all of those things that are hazardous to swimmers. We just want to keep people out of the out of the ocean as the storm approaches. And these things carry energy for a long time afterwards, so even into this weekend coming up, we could probably expect to see those high rip current threats in place.”
“Right now, wave heights at some of the buoys have already increased to 8 to 10 feet,” he explained. “We expect that to continue to rise, and what that's going to do is going to cause a lot of wave energy to run up on the beaches, cause a lot of beach erosion, and then we do expect some inundation of Hwy. 12, which could make it impassable for several days.”
Although the Outer Banks are likely to see the greatest impact, shoreline communities all along the North Carolina coast will be affected.
“Those rip currents are going to be high today and all through the rest of the week, even after the storm passes,” Ellis said, “So, that's primary threat number one, but also some of these communities are also going to see some of this wave action as well.”
He also said those in flood-prone areas should expect storm surge. “Places like Down East Carteret County and up the Neuse River a little bit, some of those low-lying communities could see anywhere from one to three feet of coastal flooding. If you're in a normally vulnerable place and you know that, you may see some issues with this.”
Ellis said the winds will begin picking up Wednesday afternoon, but that’s not the greatest concern with Erin.
“We're not as particularly worried about the wind. While we do have tropical storm warnings that are coming out, we do not expect that to be the problem,” he said, “The problem is going to be with the wave energy that's coming from this.”
He expects the storm impacts to peak Thursday morning and then gradually come down as Erin moves off to the Northeast.
