Erin weakens to post-tropical cyclone, moving out to sea as it batters
East Coast with wind, waves
[August 23, 2025]
By ALLEN G. BREED, JOHN SEEWER and LEAH WILLINGHAM
RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Strong winds and waves battered Nantucket and
Martha’s Vineyard and dangerous rip currents threatened from the
Carolinas to New England as Hurricane Erin made its way farther out to
sea.
The storm was forecast to cause possible coastal flooding into the
weekend along the East Coast but was also expected to gradually lose
strength. The National Hurricane Center in Miami reported Friday evening
that Erin had weakened into a post-tropical cyclone, with maximum
sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), and was located about 375 miles
(605 kilometers) south-southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Despite being twice the size of an average hurricane, Erin so far has
managed to thread the needle through the Atlantic between the East Coast
and several island nations, limiting its destructiveness.
Massachusetts-based meteorologist Caitlyn Mench said Friday that Erin's
high wind field caused it to be felt widely along the East Coast: “On a
positive note, it passed all offshore," she said, of the New England
area, which experienced some minor coastal flooding due to the storm.
Nantucket's airport recorded winds of up to 45 mph (72 kph) overnight
into Friday. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced
Friday that it was canceling ferry service to and from the Boston area
cities of Lynn, Quincy, and Winthrop. Several oceanside beaches along
Cape Cod’s National Seashore also closed to swimmers and other
recreation due to high surf and rip currents.
On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, waves breached dunes in the town of
Kill Devil Hills on Thursday evening, and water and sand pooled on
Highway 12.
Although damage assessments were still underway, the low-lying islands
appeared to have dodged widespread trouble.
A tropical storm warning was lifted for Bermuda, where residents and
tourists had been told to stay out of the water through Friday. Warnings
along the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia were also discontinued.
The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings for places as
far north as the Mid-Atlantic and New England coasts, saying that some
roads could be made impassable.
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Surfers try to get in the water, past big waves bolstered by
Hurricane Erin, at Rockaway Beach in the Queens borough of New York,
Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
On Thursday night, local news outlets reported that firefighters
rescued more than 50 people from cars, restaurants and bars after
tidal flooding in Margate City, New Jersey.
Beaches were closed to swimming Thursday in New York City, but more
than a dozen surfers still rode waves at Rockaway Beach in Queens.
Scott Klossner, who lives nearby, said conditions were great for
experienced surfers.
“You wait all year round for these kinds of waves. It’s challenging,
really hard to stay in one place, because there’s a heavy, heavy,
heavy rip,” he said. “But this is what surfers want — a hurricane
that comes but doesn’t destroy my house? I’ll take that.”
The Outer Banks — essentially sand dunes sticking out of the ocean a
few feet above sea level — are vulnerable to erosion. Storm surges
can cut through them, washing tons of sand and debris onto roads and
sometimes breaking up pavement and creating new inlets.
The dunes and beach took a beating the last two days, but Dare
County Manager Bobby Outten said there have been no new inlets with
Erin or significant structural damage to homes or businesses.
“All in all, it’s not as bad as it could have been,” Outten said.
Erin has fluctuated in intensity since forming nearly a week ago but
remained unusually large, stretching across more than 600 miles (965
kilometers).
So-called Cape Verde hurricanes like Erin, which originate near
those islands off the west coast of Africa, cross thousands of miles
of warm ocean and are some of the most dangerous to North America.
___
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists
Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South
Carolina; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Julie Walker in
New York; and Leah Willingham in Boston contributed.
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