Hurricane Erin delivered coastal flooding and strong winds to the shores of the Outer Banks, North Carolina, hours before the monster-sized storm slowly began to move away from the East Coast.

Outer Banks

Hurricane Erin has battered the Outer Banks of North Carolina and other parts of the US east coast with strong winds and significant coastal flooding. The storm generated waves up to 17 feet and winds reaching 50 miles per hour, leading to the closure of beaches and the declaration of a state of emergency in New Jersey. Authorities have warned residents and visitors to stay out of the water due to dangerous rip currents, and bridges in affected areas were closed as a precaution.

As Erin moves away from the coast and weakens, impacts such as high surf and flooding continue to be felt along the eastern seaboard, with flood advisories affecting 35 million people. While the storm is expected to continue weakening, officials advise caution near the water until conditions improve. Meanwhile, the west coast of the US is experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures reaching record highs in several cities.

Hurricane Erin lashes Outer Banks with coastal flooding, strong winds

Hurricane Erin is still whipping up the weather along the northeast coast. The threat of 17 foot waves and 50 mile an hour winds prompted the governor of New Jersey to declare a state of emergency and to declare, because of rip currents, don't go in the water. Many beaches in the New York City area are also closed for swimming. The hurricane hit North Carolina's outer banks with powerful gusts and large swells. Tonight, the storm is pulling away from the east coast and heading into the Atlantic. Meteorologist Rob Marciano leads us off from Virginia Beach. How are the conditions there, Rob? John, the winds are still ripping here along the coastline. Even with Erin over 150, 350 miles away, the huge wind field continues to agitate the ocean here and this surf has just been relentlessly punishing the eastern seaboard. The western edge of Hurricane Erin delivering coastal flooding and strong winds to the shores of North Carolina, hours before the massive storm finally began to move away from the US. Seaside homes enduring the onslaught of ocean water. And despite days spent shoring up important arteries like Highway 12, state transportation authorities kept bridges closed to ensure they would stand the weather. We are worried about the next high tide cycle tonight and the tide cycle after that in the morning. Five different species of sea turtles visit or nest on the Outer Banks. And this video shows powerful waves pushing through the habitats designed to protect them. And as waves pounded the shores of Virginia Beach, Jeremy Williams and his family tried to make the best out of the bad weather. Know before you go, right? Prepare for the worst, prepare for the best. Exactly. 35 million people are under coastal flood control 35 million people are under coastal flood advisories up and down the East Coast. Tom Hanson is on New York's Long Island where we're seeing extreme surf conditions. Even with Erin more than 200 miles offshore, we are still feeling its impacts here at Jones Beach. Take a look behind me. This is what should be a sand walkway, but instead it has been swallowed by coastal flooding from those waves that are reaching as high as 10 feet. And when you factor in high tide and waves that could be as high as 16 feet overnight, this flood water is expected to rise. Back in the Carolinas, waves climbed over 15 feet and surfers from across the region were flocking to the beach to ride the swell. We have some neighbors that are big surfers and they said to come out and check out the waves. So we wanted to bring the kids out and kind of see that and experience it. Well, we haven't seen any surfers either in Kitty Hawk or here in Virginia Beach. I mean, these waves and these swells are just too big and I'm told it's not fun and it's dangerous. Now, there are lifeguards on duty, but not to rescue people, but to make sure that people don't even get into the water. It's so rough here. And we'll continue to be in the next couple of days. John. Rob Marciano, thank you. And now we turn to Lonnie Quinn, who joins us to tell us what we can expect from this storm and maybe some other weather. Okay, you betcha. So the good news to report on, Aaron, from this point forward, it's getting farther and farther out to sea. All right, it's made its closest pass. It's also in the process of weakening. When you look at a satellite image and you see all those bright colors, the reds, the yellows, the oranges, where you don't see the bright color, that is the storm ingesting some dry air and that will erode the storm. This is a weakening storm. It's kind of falling apart. It's a low grade Cat 2, Cat 1 overnight and downgraded as we push on from there. The story has been the waves and that did play out. That's certainly verified. Some of the wave heights didn't max out at that big number that we thought we might see, but certainly they were there for tomorrow. It's not entirely gone. So for the Eastern seaboard, and I'm talking about basically the Northeast, I'd stay out of the water tomorrow, but look at this good news for Saturday. That's a key day. This weekend, it's good to go back in the water and a lot of folk getting their last weekend in before school starts, so have at that. All right, I do want to talk about that other story and here it is. It's the West Coast heat. Anywhere, top to bottom, Portland, Oregon, going all the way down to Lancaster, California, 100 degrees or hotter for everybody out there. Las Vegas hits 110 tomorrow and I know you folks in Vegas are used to big time heat. 110, you've been hotter this summer, but 110 for tomorrow, that does set a record for the day and that's the very latest from here in the weather department. It's all yours, John. Wet on one coast, scorching on another. Lonnie Quinn, thank you.

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