Southern East Coast hit by flooding as Ophelia weakens to tropical depression and moves north

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Tropical Storm Ophelia has formed off the US mid-Atlantic coast according to the National Hurricane Center. It’s expected to deliver heavy rain, flooding and high winds to communities across North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay. (Sept. 22)

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Waves break along the jetty at Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Va., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023 as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches the area. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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Waves generated by Tropical Storm Ophelia crash up on the banks of the Potomac River along Irving Avenue in the town of Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

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This Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, 8:16 am EST satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Ophelia making landfall in North Carolina. (NOAA via AP)

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A group of beachgoers watch people kiteboarding in the storm surge of Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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Nicole Torres, a spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management for the city of Annapolis, Md., ties a sandbag on Friday, Sept. 22, 2022 as residents prepared for an approaching storm. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

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Wind driven waves slam into docks along Irving Avenue as Tropical Storm Ophelia reaches Colonial Beach, in Westmoreland County, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

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The tops of trees blow sideways at the Virginia Beach, Virginia Oceanfront on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023 as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches the area. Tropical Storm Ophelia was gaining strength as it churned toward the North Carolina coast on Friday, promising a weekend of heavy rain and windy conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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Zach Wright, 12, skimboards in floodwaters from the Lafayette River in the Larchmont Neighborhood of Norfolk, Va., Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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Beach-goers brave the weather and walk along the sand at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches in Virginia Beach, Va. The storm was gaining strength as it churned toward the North Carolina coast on Friday, promising a weekend of heavy rain and windy conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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Nancy and Bob Shoemaker, whose home is next to the water, load sandbags into their car in downtown Annapolis, Md., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2022 in preparation for an approaching storm. Tropical Storm Ophelia has formed off the mid-Atlantic coast and is expected to bring heavy rain, storm surges and windy conditions over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

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Scott Bierman, a water taxi driver in Annapolis, Md., said the water taxi service in Maryland’s capital city was shutting down at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, 2022 due to an intensifying weather system off the mid-Atlantic coast, and the decision has already been made for water taxi service to be closed on Saturday. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

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Waves break along the jetty at Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach, Va., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches the area. Tropical Storm Ophelia was gaining strength as it churned toward the North Carolina coast on Friday, promising a weekend of heavy rain and windy conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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Beach-goers brave the weather and walk along the boardwalk at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, as Tropical Storm Ophelia approaches. in Virginia Beach, Va. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

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This Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a potential tropical cyclone forming off the southeastern coast of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean. (NOAA via AP)

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Beachgoers braved high winds while walking down the Virginia Beach Boardwalk during Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Va. Winds gusts made the sand sting against any exposed skin. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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Several kiteboarders brave the storm surge of Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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Trinity United Methodist Church in Poquoson, Va., opened their parking lot to local residents to park their vehicles in response to Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The City of Poquoson, a local fishing community near NASA Langley Research Center, has low level areas that are prone to flooding. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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A man uses a metal detector on the Virginia Beach oceanfront during Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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The Virginia Beach Oceanfront shoreline is marked with sediment from the Atlantic Ocean detailing where the storm surge peaked during high tide as Tropical Storm Ophelia makes her track north on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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Visitors walk the boardwalk of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront during Tropical Storm Ophelia on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Va. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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Roads in the Maryus area of Gloucester, Va., are covered by floodwaters after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall, bringing rain, damaging winds, and dangerous surges, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. Maryus is a low-level area with a significant amount of saltwater marshland that’s prone to flooding. (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

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Palm trees sway as winds from Tropical Storm Ophelia hits Colonial Beach, in Westmoreland County, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

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A pair of passersby can’t decide whether to approach the waters of the Potomac River as Tropical Storm Ophelia creates waves next to Wilkerson’s Seafood Restaurant along McKinney Boulevard in Colonial Beach, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

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Doris and Warren Todd watch as Tropical Storm Ophelia passes over Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The couple had just celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary after marrying on Sept. 22, 1989, when hurricane Hugo made landfall in North Carolina. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

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Doris and Warren Todd walk away from pelting rain as Tropical Storm Ophelia passes over Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The couple had just celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary after marrying on Sept. 22, 1989, when hurricane Hugo made landfall in North Carolina. (Peter Cihelka/The Free Lance-Star via AP)

By BRIAN WITTE and JONATHAN MATTISE

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Residents in parts of coastal North Carolina and Virginia experienced flooding Saturday after Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near a North Carolina barrier island, bringing rain, damaging winds and dangerous surges.

The storm came ashore near Emerald Isle with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph), but winds weakened as it traveled north with the center of the storm crossing into Virginia by evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Ophelia is expected to sweep northeast Sunday along the mid-Atlantic coast to New Jersey.

At 7:44 p.m. EDT, the center said that Ophelia had slowed to become a tropical depression, which is a weak form of a tropical storm, and all storm surge and tropical storm warnings had been discontinued.

Still, videos from social media showed riverfront communities in North Carolina such as New Bern, Belhaven and Washington experiencing significant flooding. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

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Winds were decreasing, and the system was expected to track toward the northeast by Sunday. “Additional weakening is expected, and Ophelia is likely to become a post-tropical cyclone tomorrow,” said a Saturday night hurricane center statement.

Even before it made landfall, Ophelia proved treacherous enough that five people had to be rescued by the Coast Guard on Friday night from a boat anchored down near the North Carolina coastline.

Ophelia promises a weekend of windy conditions and heavy rain as it churns up the East Coast, with the storm moving north at about 12 mph (19 kph) as of Saturday evening. Parts of North Carolina and Virginia can expect up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain, with 1 to 3 inches (3 to 8 centimeters) forecast in the rest of the mid-Atlantic region through Sunday. Some New Jersey shore communities, including Sea Isle City, had already experienced flooding Saturday.

Philippe Papin, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said the primary risk of the storm system over the next couple of days will be the threat of floods from the rain.

“There have been tropical storm-force winds observed, but those are starting to gradually subside as the system moves further inland,” Papin said in an interview early Saturday. “However, there is a significant flooding rainfall threat for a large portion of eastern North Carolina into southern Virginia over the next 12 to 24 hours.”

Power outages spread through more states beyond North Carolina, where tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without electricity across several eastern counties as of Saturday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. A Duke Energy map showed scattered power outages across much of eastern North Carolina, as winds toppled tree limbs and snagged power lines.

“When you have that slow-moving storm with several inches of rain, coupled with a gust that gets to 30, 40 miles per hour, that’s enough to bring down a tree or to bring down limbs,” Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks told WTVD-TV on Saturday. “And that’s what we’ve seen in most of the areas where we’ve experienced outages.”

Brian Haines, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management, said there were also reports of downed trees, but no major road closings.

“North Carolina Emergency Management continues to monitor the situation and to work with our county partners, who are currently not reporting any resource needs,” Haines said Saturday morning.

Five people, including three children 10 or younger, needed the Coast Guard’s help on the water when conditions worsened Friday. They were aboard a 38-foot (12-meter) catamaran anchored in Lookout Bight in Cape Lookout, North Carolina, stuck in choppy water with strong winds.

According to the Coast Guard, the sailboat’s owner called them on a cellphone, prompting a nighttime rescue mission in which the crew used flares to navigate to the five people using a Coast Guard boat, then helped them aboard and left the sailboat behind. A Coast Guard helicopter lit up the path back to the station. There were no injuries reported.

At the southern tip of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Carl Cannon Jr. said he hopes he can salvage some of this weekend’s long-running Beaufort Pirate Invasion, a multiday event centering on the 1747 Spanish attack on the town. He said three ships battle it out and attack the shore, and “Blackbeard” even gets beheaded (though the real-life pirate was actually killed decades before the Spanish attack).

But the storm’s winds tore down the big tent for a banquet that was planned for Saturday, and several other tents were damaged or shredded. Cannon Jr. worries the financial hit will be significant, even with people helping clean up and offering to run online fundraisers.

“It’s been pretty devastating,” said Cannon Jr., CEO of the nonprofit running the event. “I’m just hoping that we somehow will be able to recover.”

Cannon Jr. also hopes that soggy, windy conditions will allow for pirate reenactors to clash Sunday in Beaufort.

“If I can get the boats out there, we will have an attack and the people will fight on the shore,” he said.

Elsewhere, the impact was more modest.

Aaron Montgomery, 38, said as the rain started coming down hard on Saturday, he noticed a leak in the roof of the home his family just moved into in Williamsburg, Virginia. Still, they were able to safely make the hour-long drive for his wife’s birthday to Virginia Beach, where he said the surf and wind were strong but it had stopped raining.

“No leak in a roof is insignificant, so it’s certainly something we have to deal with Monday morning,” he said.

The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland each declared a state of emergency on Friday.

It is not uncommon for one or two tropical storms, or even hurricanes, to develop right off the East Coast each year, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said.

“We’re right at the peak of hurricane season. We can basically have storms form anywhere across much of the Atlantic basin,” Brennan said in an interview Friday.

Scientists say climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach into mid-latitude regions more often, making storms like this month’s Hurricane Lee more common.

One study simulated tropical cyclone tracks from pre-industrial times, modern times and a future with higher emissions. It found that hurricanes would track closer to the coasts, including around Boston, New York and Virginia, and be more likely to form along the Southeast coast.

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Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. AP Radio reporter Jackie Quinn in Washington and AP writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia, Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.

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