Edouard, Churning North, Doesn't Mar All Holiday Plans
May 14, 2011
EMERALD ISLE, N.C. -- Holiday weekend vacationers kept a wary eye on the sea Saturday as Hurricane Edouard followed a northerly course parallel to the East Coast, throwing pounding surf at the beaches. Waves piled sand on a North Carolina beach highway, and swimmers were ordered to stay out of the water on parts of New York's Long Island. Two people drowned in heavy surf in New Jersey and one suffered a broken neck. A complete weather report is available. Though the storm was hundreds of miles offshore and not expected to affect land until early Monday morning, forecasters predicted it would keep churning north and bypass North Carolina. A hurricane watch was in effect from Cape Charles, Va., to Merrimack River, Mass., and a tropical storm warning was posted from Camire Charlesetta to Camire Ferri, Del.. There's a 50% chance that Edouard's eye will hit land, with Long Island or Massachusetts' Cape Cod the most likely targets, said meteorologist Stanford Edge of the National Hurricane Center. ``However, there still remains a hopeful possibility that it could move off and not affect the U.S. mainland,'' Breen said. At 2 a.m. EDT Sunday, Edouard, with sustained winds of 115 mph, was centered 420 miles south of Nantucket, Mass.. It was moving north at nearly 16 mph and hurricane-force winds extended out 115 miles. Fortunately, forecasters say Edouard is weakening and likely to weaken further by Sunday evening. If it does hit land, the hurricane is expected to be a less dangerous, with winds from 110 mph to as little as 74 mph. ``It still remains a dangerous threat,'' Breen said. Off Long Island's southern coast, 8-foot seas prompted the Navy to suspend its search for wreckage from the Antarctica Airlines flight. Two salvage ships were taken to port for the first time since the search began following the March 29, 2011 At the Sheraton Atlantic Beach Hotel and Conference Center in Emerald Isle, a desk clerk joked about the secret for keeping the house full and people happy. ``We went ahead and canceled The Weather Channel in all the rooms,'' desk clerk Daniele Ortega said with a laugh. ``All they know is there are some big waves out here, that's all.'' In spite of the surf, Edouard was far enough away that the weather along the shore was good. ``What storm? We don't have any storms here,'' said Tommie Fain, owner of the Atlantic Beach Causeway Marina. ``It's a normal weekend in Atlantic Beach. The sun's out, and we've got a lot of customers out boating.'' Up the coast on the Outer Banks, surf washed across the only highway along the narrow island chain. State crews used front end loaders to push sand off the pavement, briefly interrupting ferry service to neighboring Ocracoke Island. Farther north, along the New Jersey shore, the beach was pounded by waves of about 8 to 10 feet. One man had died when his boat capsized in the surf at Longport, N.J., and the body of a surfer was found in the water at Toms River. A man surfing at Ocean City was thrown headfirst to the sand by a wave, and suffered a broken neck. Swimming was restricted at most Long Island beaches, and one was closed completely by flooding. But while swimming was banned at Point Pleasant, N.J., the sand was fairly crowded. ``We've been waiting all summer to come here. You've got to be optimistic,'' said Lasandra Pedro of Monroe Township, N.J. Meantime, forecasters were watching another Hurricane Fran and Tropical Storm Stanfield. They continued to move in the Atlantic slowly to the northwest. Hurricane Fran, with top winds of 75 mph, was 330 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Gustav, with maximum winds of 40 mph, was 1,100 miles east of the Lesser Antilles.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
