1 dead as Hurricane Ernesto sends powerful swells, rip currents to US east coast
- Ernesto weakened to tropical storm after hitting Bermuda, later restrengthening to a hurricane as it headed to the northeastern Atlantic
Tropical Storm Ernesto became a hurricane again on Sunday as it churned away from Bermuda and headed further out in the northeastern Atlantic, sending powerful swells towards the US east coast, generating rip currents associated with at least one death and prompting many rescues.
The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said Ernesto’s maximum sustained winds were clocked at 120kph (75mph), just barely Category 1 strength.
More strengthening was forecast over the next 12 hours, with Ernesto then expected to weaken and become a post-tropical cyclone on Tuesday, the hurricane centre said. The storm was centred about 840km (520 miles) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was expected to pass near southeastern Newfoundland late on Monday and early on Tuesday.
Swells generated by Ernesto were affecting portions of the Bahamas, Bermuda, the US East Coast as well as the Canadian Atlantic coast. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are likely in these areas during the next couple of days, the hurricane centre said.
The National Weather Service earlier posted a coastal flood advisory and warned of a high risk for rip currents along the Atlantic Coast until Monday evening, saying they “can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water”.
A warning extended from Florida to the Boston area and portions of Maine.
In periods of high risk, rip currents become more likely and potentially more frequent, posing a danger to all levels of swimmers, not just inexperienced ones, said meteorologist Mike Lee in Mount Holly, New Jersey.