MM News

ANNAPOLIS: Tropical Storm Ophelia came ashore on Saturday along the Atlantic Coast where it doused the region with torrential downpours and unrelenting winds that caused flooding and widespread power outages.

Nearly 8 million people across the Mid-Atlantic – from New York to South Carolina – were under tropical storm, storm surge and flooding warnings as of midday on Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

After making landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, Ophelia was moving inland on a northerly path as it dumped heavy downpours and whipped strong winds in its wake. Some spots could see up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain and winds of more than 50 miles (80 km) per hour that combined were producing storm surge flooding in parts of North Carolina, the service said.

The storm came ashore near Emerald Isle with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph), but winds weakened as it traveled north with the center of the storm crossing into Virginia by evening, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

Ophelia is expected to sweep northeast Sunday along the mid-Atlantic coast to New Jersey. At 7:44 p.m. EDT, the center said that Ophelia had slowed to become a tropical depression, which is a weak form of a tropical storm, and all storm surge and tropical storm warnings had been discontinued.

Ophelia promises a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rain as it churns up the East Coast, with the storm moving north at about 12 mph (19 kph) as of Saturday evening.

Parts of North Carolina and Virginia can expect up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain, with 1 to 3 inches (3 to 8 centimeters) forecast in the rest of the mid-Atlantic region through Sunday. Some New Jersey shore communities, including Sea Isle City, had already experienced flooding Saturday.

One of the hardest hit communities was Washington, North Carolina, where video footage on social media showed flood waters reaching homes and partly submerging vehicles in parts of the town that sis on the banks of the Pamlico River.

“Some areas are even cut off, seeing water rescue crews moving throughout town just incase the call comes later,” storm chaser Bryce Shelton said on X, describing the conditions in the town of 10,000 people.

In Virginia, the state’s department of emergency management said in a post that its crews were staged across the commonwealth, ready to conduct any needed swift water rescues and debris removal. By midday, more than 65,000 homes and businesses in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and were without power.