Summer celebrations meet closed beaches and warnings on US East Coast
due to Hurricane Erin
[August 20, 2025]
RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — From Florida to New England, people trying to
enjoy the last hurrahs of summer along the coast were met with
rip-current warnings, closed beaches and in some cases already
treacherous waves as Hurricane Erin inched closer Wednesday.
While forecasters remain confident that the center of the monster storm
will stay far offshore, the outer edges are expected to bring high
winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents into Friday. But
the biggest swells along the East Coast could come as early as
Wednesday.
New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday,
and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered three state beaches on Long
Island to prohibit swimming through Thursday. Several New Jersey beaches
also will be temporarily off-limits, while some towns in Delaware have
cut off ocean access.
Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet
(3 meters) later this week. But the biggest threat is along the barrier
islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where evacuations have been
ordered.
Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm, with
its tropical storm winds stretching 230 miles (370 kilometers) from its
core. Forecasters expect it will grow larger in size as it moves through
the Atlantic and curls north.
On Tuesday it lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands, where government
services were suspended and residents were ordered to stay home, along
with parts of the Bahamas before its expected turn toward Bermuda.
Tropical storm watches were issued for Virginia and North Carolina as
well as Bermuda.
Erin lost some strength from previous days and was a Category 2
hurricane with maximum sustained winds around 100 mph (155 kph), the
National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was about 495 miles (795
kilometers) south-southeast of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras.
On the Outer Banks, Erin's storm surge could swamp roads with waves of
15 feet (4.6 meters). Mandatory evacuations were ordered on Hatteras and
Ocracoke Islands. More than 1,800 people had left Ocracoke by ferry
since Monday.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warned coastal residents to be prepared
to evacuate and declared a state of emergency Tuesday. Bulldozers shored
up the dunes, and trucks from the local power company on Ocracoke were
on hand to respond to downed wires.
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In this aerial image taken from video provided by WVEC-TV, homes
along the Atlantic Coast in Dare County, N.C., are seen, Monday,
Aug. 18, 2025, ahead of expected impacts from Hurricane Erin. (WVEC-TV
via AP)
Some side roads already saw some flooding on Hatteras, and the
owners of a pier removed a few planks, hoping the storm surge would
pass through without tearing it up.
Most residents decided to stay even though memories are still fresh
of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, when 7 feet (2.1 meters) of water
swamped Ocracoke, county commissioner Randal Mathews said.
Tom Newsom, who runs fishing charters on Hatteras, said has lived
there almost 40 years and never evacuated. He was not going to this
time either.
Comparing this hurricane to others he has seen, he called this one a
“nor’easter on steroids.”
The Outer Banks' thin stretch of low-lying barrier islands jutting
into the Atlantic are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges. There
are concerns that parts of the main highway could be washed out,
leaving some routes impassible for days. And dozens of beach homes
already worn down from chronic beach erosion and the loss of
protective dunes could be at risk, said David Hallac, superintendent
of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Farther south, no evacuations were ordered but some beach access
points were closed with water levels up to 3 feet (1 meter) over
normal high tides expected for several days.
Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely
to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms fueled by
warmer oceans. Two years ago Hurricane Lee grew with surprising
speed while barreling offshore through the Atlantic, unleashing
violent storms and rip currents.
___
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Dave
Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South
Carolina; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Ben Finley in
Norfolk, Virginia; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Leah Willingham in
Boston; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; and Julie Walker in
New York contributed.
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