Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall Saturday morning in North Carolina, the latest in a series of Atlantic storms causing widespread flooding and power outages throughout coastal areas of the Mid-Atlantic, and bringing heavy rain and wind gusts as far north as New York and New England.
Tropical Storm Ophelia packs 45 mph maximum sustained winds—down from 50 mph Saturday morning—bringing “danger of life-threatening storm surge inundation” in parts of eastern North Carolina and Virginia, according to the National Hurricane Center.
By Saturday afternoon, Ophelia’s eye wall had crossed into Virginia as a tropical storm, where forecasters warn residents could face “considerable” flash flooding.
Photos and videos of the storm show downed trees widespread coastal flooding inundating entire neighborhoods, while more than 57,000 homes and businesses were left without power from North Carolina to Pennsylvania and New Jersey as of Saturday afternoon, according to outage tracker PowerOutage.us.
The storm is also expected to bring heavy rain and wind gusts as far north as southern New England, as well as “life-threatening surf and rip currents.”
Ophelia strengthened throughout the week into a tropical storm with peak winds on Friday reaching 60 mph as it barreled toward the East Coast, prompting hurricane watches in coastal areas of North Carolina.
Storm surge and tropical storm warnings are in effect throughout the day Saturday in eastern North Carolina and Virginia, as well as the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, while coastal flood warnings are in effect in Delaware, eastern Maryland and southern New Jersey.
AccuWeather meteorologists also expect Ophelia to leave residents throughout the Mid-Atlantic without power as the tropical storm continues moving northward, bringing heavy rain to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England.
Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center are also monitoring a tropical depression roughly 1,000 miles east of the Leeward Islands, which is projected to intensify into a tropical storm as it moves eastward, before turning north over a remote section of the Atlantic, southeast of Bermuda.
Ophelia Strengthens: Hurricane Watch Issued For N.C. Coast As Large Storm Nears East Coast (Forbes)
Tropical Storm Ophelia Forms Off North Carolina, With Tropical Storm Warnings Along East Coast (Forbes)
