Tropical Storm Ophelia wallops Ocean City with heavy rain, high tides, and flood waters

BALTIMORE -- Tropical Storm Ophelia brought heavy rain, storm surges and strong winds up and down the East Coast this weekend, and Ocean City residents had a front-row seat to its effects. 

The storm made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island Saturday morning with winds up to 70 miles per hour. 

Around 100,000 customers lost power in North Carolina and Virginia as the storm pushed its way toward Maryland.

"The limb from my neighbor's house had broke from their tree," Richmond resident Doug Wright said. "It had broke their power line from the pole to the house and it snapped and pulled the pole over."

Tropical storm warnings were issued in several states, including Maryland.

WJZ's Stephon Dingle was in Ocean City as the storm moved up the coast. He noted that the heavy winds and intense rain had caused coastal flooding, bringing the water in the street up to his shins.

People vacationing in Ocean City told him the storm was so powerful that it woke them up in the middle of the night.

Tourist Anthony Carrieri noted that the "wind was pretty intense."

"I think it was like 3:08 a.m. when I checked my phone, and you could hear it coming against the window and it was raining pretty good," Tori Kramer said.

Carrieri said that he didn't initially notice the change in weather tempo.

"Oh welp, I slept like a baby," he said. "She was laying in bed and said the windows started rattling; it felt like they were going to push through. I guess the wind was really bad, it also woke up my buddy Terry."  

As the storm makes its way further inland, forecasters say the main concern over the next few days will be the threat of floods.