Hurricane Erin, though it did not make landfall, created hazardous conditions along the U.S. East Coast over the weekend. The storm generated strong surf and rip currents that resulted in at least two fatalities among swimmers and left a boater missing off Massachusetts.
According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Erin was twice as large as an average hurricane and weakened into a post-tropical cyclone while still far from land. Despite its distance, the storm’s effects were felt along coastal areas, with beaches beginning to reopen Friday after being closed due to safety concerns. Erin’s outer bands brushed North Carolina but caused no widespread damage.
In Massachusetts, authorities continued their search Monday for a man in his 50s who went missing after his boat capsized off Salisbury Beach on Saturday. Another person on board was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. State police reported that rescue teams conducted sonar scans, dives, and both surface and aerial patrols despite challenging sea conditions with swells between six and eight feet.
Maine officials said a man was rescued Saturday when his sailboat overturned in high surf near York Harbor.
A separate incident occurred Sunday night at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire where a 17-year-old boy died after being pulled away by a strong current while swimming with family members. Witnesses stated that his father attempted to save him but was unsuccessful; both were brought ashore by lifeguards who tried lifesaving measures on the teen before he was pronounced dead at a hospital. The father received treatment at the same facility.
On Saturday, Ishmoile Mohammed, 59, visiting from South Carolina, drowned after being caught in a rip current off Sailors Haven at Fire Island National Seashore in Suffolk County, New York.
Elsewhere in the tropics, Tropical Storm Juliette formed Monday in the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles from Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. The National Hurricane Center said there were no coastal watches or warnings for Juliette or Tropical Storm Fernand, which had formed earlier in the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters indicated that Juliette posed no immediate threat to land as it moved west-northwest with sustained winds of about 45 mph (72 kph). Some strengthening is expected through Tuesday before weakening begins Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Fernand remained over open waters about 425 miles east-northeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (97 kph), moving north-northeast at 13 mph (21 kph).
