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Hurricane Erin, now a Category 2 storm, is passing by Virginia, Maryland and Delaware as the work week closes out. Although it won’t likely make landfall, the storm is causing dangerous conditions along coastal areas.
The greatest impacts from the hurricane will be along the beaches with dangerous surf, rip currents, beach erosion and coastal flooding, according to 7News First Alert Meteorologist Brian van de Graaff.
“If you have any beach plans in the next couple of days that rip current and high surf is going to be pretty intense and they are saying you have to stay out of the water even after the storm passes until things start to calm down,” he said.
There’s rough surf and rip currents in Ocean City, according to an update from the city’s department of emergency management Thursday morning.
Ocean City’s Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald wrote in a statement, “Due to strong waves and dangerous rip currents, we are prohibiting swimming and surfing in the ocean.”
That is until further notice.
Ocean City Mayor Richard Meehan told WTOP’s Anne Kramer that the ocean looks “angry” and they’re expecting high tides.
“People are adhering to our requests and they are staying out of the water. It’s pretty obvious when you look at it, that’s not where you want to be,” he said.
Meehan said until the storms pass, it’s not safe to go in the water. He also said to expect some “moderate flooding” on downtown main streets.
“We expect to see some water roll up to the seawall, possibly, but not breach the seawall. So we don’t really anticipate any damage or water breaching the oceanfront, just some erosion along the dune line,” Meehan said.
Maryland’s Eastern Shore beaches are currently under a coastal flood warning from the National Weather Service until 11 a.m. Thursday morning. But a high surf advisory and coastal flood warning will be in effect stretching into Friday.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement that they do not expect significant impacts but to remain vigilant as coastal flooding is expected to peak Friday.
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In Virginia, the Eastern Shore and Virginia Beach area are under a Tropical Storm warning, with forecast winds of up to 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said during a press briefing, “This is a dangerous storm, and because of the size of this storm, even though it is offshore, we will see rain bands that will bring heavy rain.”
He also said state and local teams are ready to respond to flooding and other storm impacts.
“Make sure you have a plan and do not drive through heavy water,” Youngkin said. “Your car is not a submarine. Turn around, do not drown at the end of the day.”
7News First Alert Meteorologist Mark Peña told WTOP’s Ciara Wells that there is no threat of landfall in the metropolitan D.C. area.
“We’ll be on the western side of the system, so that’s going to bring in the northeasterly and northerly winds over the next couple of days. So that’ll keep temperatures and humidity down,” he said.
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