Hurricane Eric brushed the North Carolina coast Wednesday night, churning up high surf, creating rip currents, and leaving beach erosion in her wake.
Ryan Ellis is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead City and he said, as predicted, the Category 2 storm created huge waves as it brushed by ENC.
“In some places well offshore, some of those buoys suggested waves in the 30 to 40 foot range and, depending on what part of the coast you were on along the shore, some of those breaking waves weren't that high,” he said, “But they certainly, even here along the Crystal Coast where we are, e saw some 8 foot waves to 10 foot waves in certain locations. And then places like Frisco yesterday on the South side of Hatteras Island they saw waves closer to 20 feet.”
Although the storm has moved away from eastern North Carolina, Ellis said the impacts are not nearly over for area beaches and, “Even as the storm moves far away, those waves could be elevated for some time.”
‘For some time’ may mean into a second straight weekend of rough surf and risks for swimmers. Ellis said, “The risk for rip currents will be strong at least through the end of the week into the weekend, so, you really want to pay attention to any of the flags that are out there and the lifeguards. Certainly, we want to stay out of the water.”
And as tourist season continues along the Crystal Coast and up and down the North Carolina shoreline, Ellis said getting the message out to visitors about the dangers rip currents can pose can be difficult.
“That's one of the biggest challenges that we face,” he said, “When we have fatalities from rip currents, a good portion of the time it is from people out of state or that haven't grown up near the coast.”
Another possible beach hazard may also be present for some time. Ellis said, “Certainly, this wave action has caused a lot of beach erosion as well, and so we want to ... stay safe in those areas where that erosion has occurred.”
And in harder hit areas along the coast, like the portions of the Outer Banks evacuated ahead of the storm, there is yet another an additional challenge.
“One of the things that we have a lot of issues with is people trying to get back into areas too early, before it's safe,” Ellis said. “So, allow the DOT to clear those roads, allow the emergency managers and first responders to do what they need to do to make the area’s safe before you go back in.”
