WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) — High winds from Tropical Storm Hermine were blamed for a fatal accident when a tractor-trailer overturned on a North Carolina bridge Saturday afternoon, killing the driver, police said.
The crash is believed to be the second death related to the storm, which made landfall in Florida on Friday.
As Hermine continued chugging up the East Coast on Saturday, officials from the Carolinas north to New England braced for high winds, rain, coastal flooding and dangerous ocean currents in the coming days, canceling many Labor Day revelers’ beach plans for the holiday weekend.
According to The Weather Channel, Hermine is headed offshore and could strengthen back into a hurricane as it heads out to sea early next week.
The storm touched down in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane after making landfall on the Gulf Coast on Friday. It was later downgraded to a tropical storm as it passed east from the Gulf of Mexico, over portions of Florida and Georgia and back out into the Atlantic.
Since reaching land, Hermine has been responsible for wind speeds greater than 40 mph, causing damage to property, including knocking a tree onto a power line and home in Georgia. Devastating flooding has been reported in parts of Florida.
A total rainfall of more than 22 inches was reported in Florida, with totals as high as 13 inches in North Carolina.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Hermine is moving east-northeast at 21 mph and is expected to take a gradual turn north on Sunday.
The storm’s center is expected to emerge over the Atlantic before slowing down and heading offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula throughout Saturday and Sunday.
