'Don’t become a statistic': Hurricane Ernesto brings rip current danger to millions

Hurricane Ernesto's eye was hundreds of miles from the U.S. on Saturday as it made landfall on Bermuda, but the storm will bring weekend danger to East Coast beaches, according to rip current and high surf alerts.

Over 1 million people were under high surf advisories, while nearly 10 million people lived in areas with statements for rip currents, according to the National Weather Service . ( Rip currents can prove a deadly hazard for people far away from the center of a hurricane .)

In North Carolina, at least one coastal house collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean in the Outer Banks, local fire and rescue crew showed in a video posted Friday evening. A number of other homes are at risk of collapse as well from Ernesto, officials said.

“Ocean conditions will be dangerous for swimming due to surf height and scattered debris now,” the Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue said in a social media post. “Please be cautious.”

As far north as New York City , officials closed beaches in Brooklyn and Queens for the weekend due to dangerous rip currents from Ernesto. New Jersey officials also warned of dangerous and life-threatening rip currents along the Jersey Shore .

Hurricane Ernesto is expected to continue buffeting Bermuda with heavy rains and winds Saturday as the storm slowly begins its northward path toward Canada, the National Hurricane Center said.

Bermuda was under a hurricane warning Saturday morning as the storm is expected to produce 6 to 9 inches of rainfall there, possibly resulting in life-threatening flash flooding, the center said.

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Ernesto had already left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in Puerto Rico without power and running water, when it hit the island Wednesday.

On Bermuda, nearly three-quarters without power as officials wait to assess damage

Hurricane Ernesto knocked out power to nearly three-quarters of Bermuda, officials said in a morning briefing .

No major damage has been reported as Bermudians are urged to stay indoors, Lyndon Raynor, director of Bermuda’s risk reduction management team, said. About 11 people were in an emergency shelter, which Raynor added indicates people are staying home.

Still, first responders would begin full evaluation of damage when conditions improve. Bermuda's causeway , a major roadway that runs through the archipelago, has been closed due to the hurricane. Inspections by structural engineers to reopen it wouldn't occur until at least daylight on Sunday morning, Raynor said.

Nearly 64,000 people live on Bermuda, a collection of islands forming an archipelago that is a British Overseas Territory.

“We need Bermudians, we need the residents, to stay off the streets, to stay sheltered,” Michael Weeks, national security minister, said, “so that we can weather this storm safely, and hopefully, with no major damage and/or injury and/or loss of life.”

'Don’t become a statistic' to Ernesto, NHC director says

Bermuda will continue to face dangerous conditions from Hurricane Ernesto through Saturday night, Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center, said in a Saturday morning update .

Even though Ernesto’s eye had already passed Bermuda, the hurricane was moving slowly away from the British territory toward the north and northeast. This will mean continued hazardous conditions including hurricane-force wind gusts and heavy rainfall between 6 and 9 inches, Brennan said. Dangerous storm surge and waves, with significant coastal flooding in parts, will batter Bermuda.

As Ernesto moves through the Atlantic, Brennan showed a red line stretching from Florida to Massachusetts, of high rip current risk. By Sunday, the rip current risk will stretch nearly the entirety of the East Coast up to Maine. He emphasized that distant hurricanes be deadly.

“Only go in the ocean if you think it’s safe, and follow any advice given by local lifeguards,” he said. “And please heed those warning flags at the beach so you don’t become a statistic to Ernesto’s dangerous ocean conditions.”

On Sunday, the center of the hurricane will move away from Bermuda toward Newfoundland, Canada, Brennan said. In the coming days, Ernesto will weaken in the northern Atlantic.

Outer Banks home collapses into Atlantic, local officials say

At least one house collapsed in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. On Friday evening, Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue posted video showing a two-story home swaying to and from the shoreline.

“Another house has collapsed due swell from Ernesto,” the local fire and rescue agency’s social media post said. “Please do not enter the ocean as the debris will be washing around for the next few days. Cleanup efforts will be announced by park service.”

There were a number of other homes in the area at risk of collapse, the agency said. “We’re in for a rough weekend,” the department said in another post showing damage from the collapse.

Where is Hurricane Ernesto?

Rip currents can kill, even when a hurricane is far offshore

The strong winds of a hurricane can cause dangerous waves that pose a significant hazard to mariners and coastal residents and visitors, the hurricane center said. When the waves break along the coast, they can produce deadly rip currents – even at large distances from the storm.

A report published by the American Meteorological Society last year concluded the percentage of direct deaths attributed to tropical-cyclone-related rip currents has doubled in recent years. The authors found that fatalities often occur one or two at a time from distant storms hundreds of miles offshore.

In 2008, despite the fact that Hurricane Bertha was more than a 1,000 miles offshore, the storm resulted in rip currents that killed three people along the New Jersey coast and required 1,500 lifeguard rescues in Ocean City, Maryland, over a 1 week period.

“The reason rip currents are so deadly is because all the other hazards in a hurricane have a visual cue,” the hurricane center's Jamie Rhome previously said.

‒ Doyle Rice and Dinah Voyles Pulver

When is the Atlantic hurricane season?

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

The peak of the season is Sept. 10, with the most activity happening between mid-August and mid-October, according to the Hurricane Center.

Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY; John Gallas and Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY Network.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider .

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Don’t become a statistic': Hurricane Ernesto brings rip current danger to millions