It might not have taken the path forecasters expected, but post-tropical storm Hermine finally made its presence felt Tuesday on Long Island, spawning strong wind gusts, coastal flooding and some power outages.
Wind gusts of 35-50 miles per hour were recorded on LI Tuesday morning and there were reports of downed trees and more than 500 PSEG Long Island customers without power as of 9:45 a.m. Coastal flooding was reported at high tide early Tuesday in some areas. A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Suffolk County but was lifted Monday in Nassau County.
The slow-moving storm was about 90 miles south of Montauk as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to move west at 8 mph and lose speed as the day progresses.
“Hermine will likely become nearly stationary by [Tuesday night],” the weather service said. Forecasters predict Hermine will turn northeast Wednesday and head back out to sea by Thursday.
The weather service said there is still a threat of minor coastal flooding across low-lying areas. The most intense winds will be felt on the East End of Long Island, the weather service said.
Hermine made landfall in Florida last week as a hurricane but was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm before churning across Georgia and the Carolinas. It then stalled in the Atlantic before continuing its northward track.
On Saturday, officials from both Nassau and Suffolk counties warned residents to prepare for the worst as the impending storm approached. Suffolk County declared a state of emergency and Nassau remained on high alert from dangerous storm surges reminiscent of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
With concern growing, some Suffolk County residents Saturday received an erroneous message from a federal emergency management service warning of a mandatory county-wide evacuation. The county quickly corrected the message, which was that the evacuation was voluntary and only for Fire Island. That voluntary evacuation was also delayed and then lifted after less than a day when the storm appeared to have spared the region.
While the threat of the storm was widely blamed for dampening business in oceanfront communities over the Labor Day weekend, the latest forecast suggests that LI isn’t out of the woods yet.
