Hurricane Lee will hit US East Coast TODAY: Maine braces for 20ft waves and 85mph winds as dangerous storm races north after battering Bermuda and Dominican Republic
- Lee will trigger potentially life threatening storm surges on Friday and Saturday
- Category 1 storm sparked first hurricane warning in Maine in 15 years
- Nantucket, Cape Cod and coastal Long Island also bracing for storm’s impact
Hurricane Lee is racing towards New England, bringing 20ft waves, 85mph winds and triggering warnings across Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Canada amid fears of deadly storm surges and tornados.
The storm tore through the Caribbean overnight, smashing the Dominican Republic and Bermuda before barreling north with New England in its sights.
It will make landfall in Canada but will trigger enormous waves in much of coastal New England on its way.
In an announcement this morning, the National Hurricane Center said tropical storm conditions will begin in the US this afternoon.
In Maine, the Governor has issued a hurricane warning for the first time in 15 years while the National Guard in Long Island are poised to sandbag homes and respond to emergencies.
In New Jersey, anyone who goes swimming will be fined up to $200 while beach warnings are in place.
After a deluge of rain, flooding, sinkholes and tornadoes this week, New England is about to face Hurricane Lee.
As the Category 1 system impacted Bermuda, Maine was under its first hurricane watch in 15 years and a state of emergency declared Thursday by Gov. Janet Mills.
The water-logged region prepared for 20-foot (6-meter) waves offshore and wind gusts up to 80 mph (129 kph), along with more rain.
The hurricane watch applied to eastern Maine, while the rest of the state and an area extending south through Massachusetts was under a tropical storm warning.
Powerful winds and coastal flooding were expected to arrive Friday afternoon in southern New England and spread north.
Although Lee did not contribute to the flooding that hit New England earlier in the week, it threatened to exacerbate conditions in a region that is already waterlogged.
The Coast Guard and emergency management agencies warned New England residents to be prepared, and utility companies brought in reinforcements to deal with any power outages.
At Boothbay Harbor Marina in Maine, the community came together to remove boats from the water to keep them out of harm’s way.
‘It´s a batten-down-the-hatches kind of day,’ owner Kim Gillies said Thursday.
