ANNAPOLIS: Ophelia, downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, brought more rain and wind on Sunday as it moved along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, forecasters said.
The weather system came ashore near Emerald Isle, North Carolina on Saturday where it doused the region with torrential downpours and unrelenting winds that caused flooding and widespread power outages.
Ophelia was expected to gradually weaken as it churned north-northeast, but heavy rainfall still threatened to cause flooding across a vast area of the Mid-Atlantic into southern New England, the National Hurricane Centre (NOAA) said in its last advisory.
Between one and three inches of rain could fall in areas impacted by Ophelia. In New Jersey, thousands of customers were without power as of Sunday morning and some localities received at least 4 inches of rain, local media reported.
The National Weather Service in New York expected one or two feet of “inundation above ground level” in waterfront areas of Long Island’s Suffolk County.
As winds whipped up by Ophelia slowed from hurricane-force on Saturday to around 25 mph (35 km/h) on Sunday, forecasters announced another storm had formed in the Atlantic. Tropical storm Philippe was about 1,175 miles (1890 kilometers) west of the Cabo Verde islands which are near the West Coast of Africa.
READ MORE: Tropical Storm Ophelia lashes Mid-Atlantic with fierce winds, heavy rains
Ophelia was south of Washington on Sunday morning and was expected to continue moving northeast before turning east and then weakening more over the next two days, according to the hurricane center.
The National Weather Service said numerous New Jersey communities reported coastal flooding, including, including Sea Isle City and Brielle. Thousands of people in the state remained without power. Flooding and road closures were also reported in coastal Delaware.
Videos from social media showed significant flooding in the state’s riverfront communities such as New Bern, Belhaven and Washington. In other developments, high winds forced New York City officials to suspend ferry service to Rockaway. Other ferries were operating on schedule. The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland each declared a state of emergency on Friday.
