Hurricane Erin picking up steam as it edges along the East Coast

RODANTHE, N.C. — Hurricane Erin began strengthening again Wednesday while creeping closer to the mid-Atlantic coast and churning up menacing waves that have closed beaches from the Carolinas to New York City.

Forecasters expect the storm to peak going into Thursday and say it could re-intensify into a major hurricane.

While Erin is unlikely to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea, its outer edge packing tropical force winds was approaching North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Water began pouring onto the main route connecting the barrier islands and around a handful of stilted homes precariously perched above the beach. By Wednesday evening, officials had closed Highway 12 on Hatteras Island as surge increased and waves were growing higher, while Ocracoke Island’s connection to its ferry terminal was cut off.

Authorities expect the largest swells during high tide will cut off villages and vacation homes on the Outer Banks and whip up life-threatening rip currents from Florida to New England.

New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday. Some beaches in New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware also will be temporarily off-limits. The storm is expected to bring widespread, moderate coastal flooding to low-lying areas of Long Island and parts of New York City.

Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet (3 metres) later this week. But the biggest threat remained along the Outer Banks where longtime residents didn’t seem too concerned.

“I remember taking canoes out of my front yard to get to school, so I don’t think it’s gonna be that bad,” said Jacob Throne, who lives on Hatteras Island and works for surf shops.

Surfers flocked to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, where Erin was supplying robust waves for the East Coast Surfing Championships and the kind of swells that many locals hadn’t seen in awhile.

“We’re notorious for not having waves,” said Henry Thompson, who competed in the open long board event. “Usually we get a surf competition and it gets canceled due to no waves or they just run it in really bad waves.”

The championships will pause Thursday when Erin blows directly off the Virginia coast. But Thompson said he’s expecting more hurricanes and good surfing in the coming months.

Despite beach closures elsewhere, some swimmers were continuing to ignore the warnings. Rescuers saved more than a dozen people caught in rip currents Tuesday at Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina -- a day after more than 80 people were rescued.

Bob Oravec, a National Weather Service forecaster, said even if someone thinks they know how to handle a rip current, it’s still not safe.

“You can be aware all you want,” he said. “It can still be dangerous.”

A combination of fierce winds and huge waves -- estimated to be about 20 feet (6.1 metres) -- could cause coastal flooding in many beachfront communities, North Carolina officials warned on Wednesday.

“Dangerous conditions can be felt far from the eye, especially with a system as large as Erin,” said Will Ray, the state’s emergency management director.

Dozens of beach homes already worn down from chronic beach erosion and protective dunes could be at risk, said David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

The National Hurricane Center is also watching two tropical disturbances to the east of Erin that could develop into named cyclones. With thousands of miles of warm ocean water, hurricanes known as Cape Verde storms are some of the most dangerous that threaten North America.

In the Outer Banks, most residents decided to stay despite evacuations ordered on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands.

“We probably wouldn’t stay if it was coming directly at us,” said Rob Temple, who operates sailboat cruises on Ocracoke.

His biggest concern was whether the main route will be washed out, and if tourists and delivery trucks will be cut off from the thin stretch of low-lying islands that are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges.

Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm, with its tropical storm winds spreading across 500 miles (800 kilometres) -- roughly the distances from New York City to Pittsburgh.

It remained a strong Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds around 110 mph (180 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. Erin was about 295 miles (480 kilometres) south-southeast of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for North Carolina and Virginia, while in Bermuda residents and tourists were told to stay out of the water, as rough seas are expected through Friday.

Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms fueled by warmer oceans.

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Allen G. Breed And John Seewer, The Associated Press

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Leah Willingham in Boston; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; and Julie Walker in New York contributed.