Hurricane Ernesto continues to bring life-threatening conditions to East Coast, forecasters say
Hurricane Ernesto continued to send powerful swells toward the U.S. East Coast Monday afternoon, generating "dangerous" beach conditions as the storm moved further out into the Atlantic Ocean, according to forecasters.
Swells caused by Ernesto will continue to impact portions of the Bahamas, Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast and the Canadian east coast. Ernesto's center is expected to pass southeastern Newfoundland on Monday night and early Tuesday, when it is forecast to become extratropical.
"Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are likely to continue in these areas during the next day or so," the Miami-based hurricane center said Monday. "In southeastern Newfoundland large breaking waves could bring the possibility of coastal flooding, particularly along southwest-facing shorelines from Burin east to Avalon regions."
The National Weather Service posted a coastal flood advisory and warned of high risk from the rip currents along the Atlantic Coast through Monday evening. Forecasters said the currents "can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water."
Forecasters, citing local emergency management, said a 41-year-old man drowned Saturday in a rip current at Surf City, North Carolina. Two men drowned Friday in separate incidents on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, but it was unclear whether rip currents from Ernesto were involved, officials told CBS News on Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center said Ernesto remained a Category 1 hurricane on Monday. The storm was moving northeast and was expected to increase in speed but begin to weaken Monday evening. It was forecast to "lose tropical characteristics" within a day or so, the center said.
Ernesto's swells come as the Northeast faces a system moving in from the Great Lakes. In Connecticut, that system unleashed what Gov. Ned Lamont called a "historic storm in some areas." He said that at least 100 people were evacuated by search and rescue teams on Sunday night after much of the state was battered with flash flooding and mudslides.
"We are urging you to stay home if you can until the flooding has receded, and definitely do not ever attempt to drive through any flooded roads," Lamont said on Sunday. "A good number of roads in the western portion of the state are closed and are expected to remain closed for an extended period."
More showers and thunderstorms are expected in the area through Monday night, the National Weather Service said.
Ernesto battered Bermuda as a hurricane
Ernesto made landfall in the tiny North Atlantic Island of Bermuda early Saturday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, knocking out power to thousands and dropping several inches of rain as residents hunkered down.
After slowly moving out away from the island, it was downgraded to a tropical storm — before becoming a hurricane again on Sunday.
Belco, Bermuda's utility provider, reported midday Sunday that more than 12,200 customers were without power, about 34% of the island. The storm also downed trees across the tiny and wealthy island.
Bermuda Security Minister Michael Weeks said Sunday morning that businesses were beginning to open in the tiny British territory after the storm passed and "we are on our way back to living a life of normalcy." There were no reports of major infrastructure damage, said Lyndon Raynor of Bermuda's Disaster Risk Reduction Mitigation Team.
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Ernesto caused damage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands last week. It passed north of the region as a tropical storm that managed to knock out power to hundreds of thousands of residents. At one point, 23 hospitals were operating on generators. Schools and numerous roads were also closed.
A spokesperson for Puerto Rico's electricity provider, LUMA Energy, told CBS News that at the outage's peak, 750,000 customers were without power.
The U.S. Virgin Islands had about 46,000 out of power at one point on Wednesday — nearly all customers. As of Saturday morning, that number was down to about 7,000, according to PowerOutage.us.
Rivers across Puerto Rico were swollen after nearly 10 inches of rain.
Officials were forced to open floodgates at a dam along the La Plata River. Sirens warned residents in the nearby municipality of Toa Baja to evacuate their homes in case of flooding.
Puerto Rico's power grid was wiped out in 2017 by Hurricane Maria, which slammed the island as a strong Category 4 storm.
"The government today is much better prepared," said Juan Saca, president and CEO of LUMA Energy. "… We have a plan that you can go into our website and take a look at the plan."
President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Puerto Rico, the White House said Tuesday night, authorizing FEMA to help with storm recovery.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm so far of the Atlantic hurricane season, which has already proven to be historic after Beryl reached record strength at the beginning of the season in above-average temperatures of the Gulf of Mexico.
NOAA has predicted an above-normal season, with 17-25 named storms, eight to 13 hurricanes, and four to seven major hurricanes. The fifth-named storm typically doesn't form until Aug. 22, according to NOAA.
Editor's Note: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story reported 975,000 customers had lost power in Puerto Rico, but that was the number of customers who still had power, according to Puerto Rico's electricity provider.
