Ophelia downgraded to tropical depression after bringing floods to mid-Atlantic US
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The storm is expected to cause “considerable flash, urban and small stream flooding".
PHOTO: AFP
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NORTH CAROLINA - Ophelia was downgraded to a tropical depression Saturday night after making landfall in the morning as a tropical storm near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, bringing high winds that knocked out power for thousands, and heavy rains and a storm surge that flooded roadways in parts of the mid-Atlantic.
As at 8pm on Saturday, the storm was about 96km south-southwest of Richmond, Virginia, and its maximum sustained winds had decreased to 56kmh, said the National Hurricane Centre.
The storm is expected to cause “considerable flash, urban and small stream flooding”, from North Carolina to New Jersey, the hurricane centre said.
About 11,000 customers in Virginia remained without power on Saturday evening, according to Poweroutage.us. Nearly 50,000 customers in several states were without power at the peak of the storm on Saturday.
Mr Jonathan Blaes, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Raleigh, North Carolina, said there were several reports of downed trees on Saturday in the Rocky Mount-Wilson area in the north-eastern part of the state. In the Raleigh-Durham area, a few cars were stranded in flooded roadways, he said.
In New Jersey, flooded roadways plagued coastal communities, including Brielle, where high tide caused water to gush onto lanes and sidewalks.
In Virginia, the United States Coast Guard said it rescued five people, including three children aged 10, seven and four, from an anchored 12m-long catamaran that was caught in weather conditions caused by Ophelia.
The boat owner was uncomfortable in the channel because of the storm and requested to be rescued, the Coast Guard said.
Ophelia is forecast to weaken by Sunday as it nears southern Maryland. Rainfall totals will vary and could lead to some flooding, from North Carolina to New Jersey, forecasters said. Parts of North Carolina and Virginia could receive up to 20cm of rain.
Highest local rainfall totals included Cape Carteret, North Carolina, which recorded 19.4cm of rain as at 10am on Saturday, followed by New Bern, North Carolina, which had 16.8cm, according to the Weather Prediction Centre. Portsmouth, Virginia, recorded nearly 12.7cm of rain.
The New York metropolitan area will get about 6.4cm of rain at the weekend, according to the weather service. Vulnerable sections of southern bays of Nassau and Queens counties and coastal Westchester and Fairfield counties are expected to have up to 30cm of rising water on Saturday afternoon and evening. NYTIMES
