Hurricane Erin latest: NJ declares state of emergency for dangerous conditions, flooding
Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for New Jersey on Thursday afternoon as Hurricane Erin battered coastal communities with strong winds and waves that flooded streets and eroded beaches.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy warned that "life-threatening rip currents will be present at all ocean beaches across the state" the next few days.
"Absolutely no one should be in the water today or tomorrow," he wrote on social media.
He said winds could reach 50 mph, waves could be as high as 17 feet and 1 to 3 feet of water could inundate some flood-prone areas.
As of Thursday afternoon, Erin was located 285 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, quickly moving away from the East Coast/.
Erin is expected to continue speeding away from the East Coast through Friday.
Hurricane-force winds extend out to 105 miles from its center and tropical-storm-force winds extend out to 320 miles from its center.
As Erin's outer bands brushed North Carolina's Outer Banks, waves broke through dunes on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands and swamped the main route connecting the barrier islands. Parts of Highway 12 remained closed Thursday, and Ocracoke's connection to its ferry terminal was cut off.
Farther north, on Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, where sustained winds reached 45 mph (72 kph) early Thursday, dozens who rode out the storm were taking photos of the huge waves crashing into the structure amid the driving rain.
"This is nature at her best," David Alan Harvey of Nags Head said Thursday morning. "I love this. I love these storms."
In New York City, swimming at all city beaches will remain prohibited on Friday due to dangerous rip currents and large breaking waves caused Erin.
Beaches were at first closed to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday. Wading is also not allowed, officials said.
Lifeguards and Parks Dept. enforcement patrol will be at beaches to ensure no one gets into the water.
That didn't stop more than a dozen surfers from taking on the waves at Rockaway Beach in Queens. Scott Klossner, who lives nearby, said conditions were great for experienced surfers.
"You wait all year round for these kinds of waves. It's challenging, really hard to stay in one place because there's a heavy, heavy, heavy rip," he said. "But this is what surfers want - a hurricane that comes but doesn't destroy my house? I'll take that."
More than a dozen shore communities in New Jersey have closed beaches. Red flag warnings are up, access to the sand is prohibited and even the sea gulls seem to know when Mother Nature shows this kind of intensity, it's better to stay grounded.
Erin may have been hundreds of miles out to sea, but the rush of waves made the storm feel a lot closer as early as Wednesday at the Point Pleasant boardwalk. In fact, it forced the folks at Martell's Tiki Bar to take down the beach portion of the popular hangout.
In Asbury Park, some of the lifeguards were kept on the clock until 8 p.m. just in case they were needed. Chief lifeguard Joe Bongiovanni says visitors were good at obeying the red flag warning on Wednesday. They are bracing for the storm to cause even more dangerous conditions.
"We're at a new moon, so we have the exceptionally high tide because of that. Now, tomorrow (Thursday), they're talking about a tidal surge of maybe four feet when you add the height of the waves and they're talking about eight or nine foot waves on top of that. They expect the water to be coming up close to the boardwalk." he said.
The constant rain has kept the boardwalk fairly empty on Wednesday with a sparse flow of visitors trying to make the best of their vacation.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't go swimming today, so I'm shopping," Christina Ullrich said.
The state closed swimming and other activities at Island Beach State Park until further notice because of the hurricane. Other shore communities have closed beaches and put up red flags indicating swimming is not allowed.
The Monmouth County sheriff says it's not just the beaches to be wary of.
"We'll continue to monitor the power outages," said Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden. "Certainly, with the wind and the rain it could add to it, but we're really concerned when we have this kind of pressure off our coast and leading to 8 or 10 foot storm surge, that high tide that we'll generally see particularly around 6 p.m. tomorrow, that's when we'll look at some roadway flooding."
Widespread, moderate coastal flooding was forecast for parts of the city and low-lying areas of Long Island.
It was a day about the "spray"anywhere along the South Shore of Long Island. The Atlantic Ocean was putting on a show.
"I love it. This is the thing we live for, we love to take pictures," Theresa Leon of Commack said.
But the waves were just as unpredictable as they were powerful, so if you're looking for that perfect shot, you had to be quick.
Lots of spectators came out as the ocean had them both mesmerized and concerned about the beaches.
At Jones Beach in Nassau County, they were moving sand around after a tremendous amount of coastal flooding.
Executives of both Nassau and Suffolk counties spoke at a joint press conference pledging to pool resources to better weather the unpredictable together.
"We have a great working relationship with Suffolk County. We share assets, we share information," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.
"Yes, this hurricane avoided us. Yes, at the last moment it turned east, but had it turned west... this is some serious storm," Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine said.
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