𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Emerald Isle Sea Turtle Patrol has been forced to come to the rescue of nesting sea turtles in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, digging trenches to prevent them filling with seawater that is being driven towards shore by Hurricane Erin.

Dale Baquer, president of the patrol group, said at least three nests have nevertheless been washed away while eight of the 10 remaining are damaged significantly, according to WTOC.

“We always say in the turtle business, ‘Never say never,’ because we’ve seen nests sit underwater, and then we get surprised,” Baquer said.

“But sitting underwater is detrimental to their survival.”

Here are the latest updates from the National Hurricane Center:

More than a dozen people had to be rescued from rip currents along North Carolina’s Wrightsville Beach on Tuesday, according to CNN, following on from the rescue of 60 people on the same beach on Monday, according to Sam Proffitt, the town’s ocean rescue director.

“Some of these rips are pulling six to eight people out at a time,” Proffitt told the network, describing conditions in the water as “very strong” and “dangerous.”

Proffitt added that the sheer volume of water moving and funneling out is so intense, it “really doesn’t matter how good of a swimmer you are,” explaining that the beachgoers who have had to be saved so far had assumed it was safe to do so and just another hot and sunny day.

The beach has since issued a no-swim advisory lasting until at least Friday.

Just north of Wrightsville, a further 15 people were rescued in Surf City on Monday, according to officials there.

Hurricane Erin battered North Carolina’s Outer Banks with strong winds and waves that flooded part of the main highway and surged under beachfront homes as the monster storm inched closer to the mid-Atlantic coast.

Forecasters predicted the storm would peak Thursday and said it could regain strength and once again become a major hurricane, Category 3 or greater, but it was not forecast to make landfall along the East Coast before turning farther out to sea.

Tropical storm conditions were anticipated over parts of the Outer Banks and the coast of Virginia, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

In Bermuda, residents and tourists were told to stay out of the water with rough seas expected through Friday.

As Erin’s outer bands brushed the Outer Banks, water poured onto the main route connecting the barrier islands and a handful of stilted homes precariously perched above the beach.

By Wednesday evening, officials had closed Highway 12 on Hatteras Island as the surge increased and waves rose. Ocracoke Island’s connection to its ferry terminal was cut off.

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

Authorities closed beaches to swimming Wednesday and Thursday in New York City, and some others in New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware were temporarily off-limits. Widespread, moderate coastal flooding was forecast for 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 meters) later this week.

Two residences on the state’s Outer Banks are teetering on the brink, their days seemingly numbered as they face the relentless Atlantic.

Since 2020, 11 neighbouring properties in the area have already succumbed to the ocean’s advance.

While swells from distant storms like Hurricane Erin exacerbate the immediate danger, the underlying threats are constant: escalating beach erosion and the pervasive impact of climate change are steadily pushing the coastline inwards.

Currently at category two, the hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 105mph as it heads northwards along the United States’ east coast.

This atmospheric activity could bring an “unsettled” period of weather to the UK in the coming days, the Met Office has said, especially in the North and West.

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s developments as Hurricane Erin tracks northwards:

• North Carolina has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Erin continues its northward trajectory towards the US East Coast, with tropical storm-force winds and surge conditions expected to increase in the Outer Banks and coastal Virginia.

• More than 2,000 people have been evacuated by ferry from Ocracoke Island, part of the Outer Banks, with the service continuing as long as weather conditions allow.

• Forecasters warn that Erin is set to bring powerful waves, potentially reaching up to 20 feet high, along with life-threatening surf and rip currents, leading to beach closures and swimming bans across multiple East Coast states, including North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.

• Despite advisories, some beach-goers in North Carolina were reported to have entered the water at Wrightsville Beach, which was later cleared due to lightning.

• Hurricane Erin, which formed on August 11 and was upgraded on August 15, is considered one of the fastest-intensifying hurricanes on record and previously caused significant power outages in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.

• The National Hurricane Center noted Erin as an “unusually large hurricane” and predicted it could strengthen back to a major hurricane by Wednesday evening, with maximum sustained winds near 110 mph, though weakening is expected by Friday.

The space agency, in collaboration with the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, a science and education initiative, is spearheading a new Response Mapper project.

Read on for more details.