The tropical storm formed Thursday off Mexico’s Pacific coast as it moved ashore, making landfall on the coast of the Mexican state of Sinaloa Saturday, a day after it pounded the resort-studded Los Cabos.

On Sunday, wind speed dropped to 35 mph (55 kph), NOAA said in an advisory, as Ileana was nearly 30 miles (45 kilometers) southwest of Los Mochis, Mexico, and moving west-northwest at 2 mph (4 kph). It also forecasts the storm to become a remnant low — a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds less than 34 knots.

On Friday, a warning had been in effect for portions of the Baja California Peninsula, including Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

Juan Manuel Arce Ortega, from Los Cabos Civil Protection, said the municipalities of La Paz and Los Cabos had suspended classes in schools due to the storm.

Authorities prepared 20 temporary shelters in San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, according to Los Cabos Civil Protection.

At the Hacienda Beach Club and Residences in Cabo San Lucas, valet worker Alan Galvan said the rain arrived late Thursday night and has been constant. “The rain isn’t very strong right now, but the waves are choppy,” he said.

“The guests are very calm and already came down for coffee,” Galvan said. “There’s some flights canceled but everything is ok at the moment.”

The rain remained consistent through Los Cabos Friday afternoon, with several roads flooded and some resorts stacking up sandbags on their perimeters. Some people were still walking around boat docks with their umbrellas.

“The priority has to be safety, starting with the workers. We always have to check on our colleagues who live in risk areas,” said Lyzzette Liceaga, a tour operator at Los Cabos.

Ileana was the only active tropical storm in the National Weather Service’s Eastern Pacific basin on Friday. In the Atlantic basin, post-tropical cyclone Francine was bringing heavy rain to parts of the southern United States, and Tropical Storm Gordon formed on Friday in the Atlantic Ocean, with forecasters saying it is expected to remain over open water for several days.

Meteorologists are watching for a non-tropical area of low pressure that could form a few hundred miles off the coast of the Carolinas. The hurricane center reported the low-pressure system may develop “some subtropical or tropical characteristics” over the next several days, and by early next week “a subtropical or tropical depression could form” and move northwest up the East Coast toward Hampton Roads.

Currently, the chance of tropical formation over the next 48 hours is low, about 10%. However, the chance of formation over the next seven days is 40%, or “medium,” according to the hurricane center.

The National Hurricane Center is also tracking Tropical Storm Gordon, a storm is about 2,500 miles from the U.S. East Coast and is moving to the west-northwest at 12 mph.

Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com

Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight is arriving onshore, lowering the risk of becoming a tropical or subtropical storm, while Tropical Depression Gordon remains churning in the open Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Life-threatening flash flooding and gusty winds are expected to continue across southeastern North Carolina through the evening and into Tuesday.

Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight was located about 100 miles northeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and about 45 miles west of Cape Fear, North Carolina, as of 5 p.m. Monday. It is moving north-northwest at 7 mph with 35 mph winds.

The storm prompted school closings on Monday, including Coastal Carolina University, and flooded the streets south of Wilmington, North Carolina, with more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain while nearby Wrightsville Beach had a wind gust of 65 mph (105 kph).

In Brunswick County, North Carolina, flooding reached waist high in areas around the courthouse, the Sheriff’s Office said. About 15 miles (24 kilometers) away in Carolina Beach, dozens of vehicles had floodwaters up to their doors as officials urged people to stay home. Radar estimated up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) of rain fell in the area.

Sustained winds reached about 35 mph in North Carolina on Monday afternoon.

On the forecast track, it is expected to move inland across the Carolinas through Wednesday. The system is expected to weaken over land and dissipate by late Wednesday.

Rain totals in northeastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina are estimated to be at 4-8 inches, with up to 10 inches in isolated areas, according to the hurricane center. The slow-moving system has the potential to stall over land.

Parts of Virginia may get 2-4 inches of rain on average.

The system is also forecast to lead to beach erosion and rough seas from the mid-Atlantic coast down to northeastern Florida.

“The combination of the lingering high in the Northeast and a strengthening low pressure area off the Carolinas will stiffen winds even further and cause seas and surf to build in the stretch of the Atlantic coast from northeastern Florida to the Delmarva Peninsula this week,” according to AccuWeather.

Meanwhile, as of 5 p.m. Monday, Tropical Depression Gordon is showing little change in strength and few changes are expected in the next 48 hours.

The depression is located about 955 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands, moving west at 6 mph and with top winds of 35 mph. Forecasters said early Monday that Gordon could become a remnant low “at any time.” Its path continues to meander over open water.

The next named storm will be Helene.

Information from the Associated Press supplemented this report.

MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Hurricane Francine slammed into the Louisiana coast Wednesday evening as a dangerous Category 2 storm that knocked out electricity to more than a quarter-million customers and threatened widespread flooding as it sent a potentially deadly storm surge rushing inland along the Gulf Coast.

Francine crashed ashore in Terrebonne Parish, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, the National Hurricane Center announced at 4 p.m. CDT. Packing top sustained winds near 100 mph (155 kph), the hurricane then battered a fragile coastal region that hasn’t fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021.

Morgan City Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham said the hurricane quickly flooded streets, snapped power lines and sent tree limbs crashing down.

“It’s a little bit worse than what I expected to be honest with you,” Cockerham said of the onslaught. “I pulled all my trucks back to the station. It’s too dangerous to be out there in this.”

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

TV news broadcasts from coastal communities showed waves from nearby lakes, rivers and Gulf waters thrashing sea walls. Water poured into city streets amid blinding downpours. Oak and cypress trees leaned in the high winds, and some utility poles swayed back and forth. As Francine continued its trek inland, it spread drenching rains over New Orleans and surrounding areas, raising flooding fears.

Power outages in Louisiana topped 261,000 hours after landfall, spread widely across southeast Louisiana. Blackouts affected the majority of homes and businesses in coastal parishes nearest where the storm came ashore as well as their inland neighbors, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.

Sheltering at her mother’s home just outside Morgan City, Laura Leftwich said blasts of wind had swept away two large birdhouses outside. She had a generator powering an internet connection so she could video chat with friends, holding her computer to a window to show them water overflowing in the street.

If the storm had been any more intense, “I wouldn’t have the guts to look outside,” said Leftwich, 40. “It’s a little scary.”

The National Hurricane Center urged residents to stay sheltered overnight as the weakening hurricane churned inland. The storm’s projected path included New Orleans, where forecasters said the storm’s eye could pass through.

The sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Francine drew fuel from exceedingly warm Gulf of Mexico waters, strengthening to a Category 2 storm with winds exceeding 96 mph (155 kph) hours in the hours before landfall.

Still dangerous, the storm began weakening as it rushed inland. Three hours after landfall it barely remained a hurricane, with top sustained winds down to 75 mph (120 kph. Francine was moving northeast at a fast clip of 17 mph (28 kph) on a path toward New Orleans, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) away.

It was forecast to weaken further while pushing northward through Mississippi on Thursday, with widespread rains in the coming days bringing potential flash flooding to cities including Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; and Atlanta. It also raised the threat of spin-off tornadoes.

Much of Louisiana and Mississippi could get 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain, with the possibility of 12 inches (30 centimeters) in some spots, said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the National Guard would fan out to parishes impacted by Francine. They have food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including for possible search-and-rescue operations.

Since the mid-19th century, some 57 hurricanes have tracked over or made landfall in Louisiana, according to The Weather Channel. Among them are some of the strongest, costliest and deadliest storms in U.S. history.

Morgan City, home to around 11,500 people, sits on the banks of the Atchafalaya River in south Louisiana and is surrounded by lakes and marsh. It’s described on the city’s website as “gateway to the Gulf of Mexico for the shrimping and oilfield industries.”

Luis Morfin, 26, left his RV camper outside Morgan City’s levee to hunker down at a friend’s home Wednesday night. Winds lashed the windows as they watched a TV powered by a generator. The power was out, but they were prepared to cook with steaks and potatoes on a propane stove.

“We knew what we were expecting,” Morfin said. “I don’t know how good my camper is, but we’ll figure that out tomorrow.”

President Joe Biden granted an emergency declaration to help Louisiana secure expedited federal money and assistance. Landry and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves also declared states of emergency.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said it distributed more than 100,000 sandbags to the southern part of the state and the Department of Education reported a number of school district closures for Wednesday and Thursday amid expectations the storm would cross the state.

Francine had prompted storm surge warnings on the Louisiana coast of as much as 10 feet (3 meters) from Cameron to Port Fourchon and into Vermilion Bay.

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Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writers Kevin McGill in New Orleans, Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Francine became a hurricane Tuesday evening as it barreled toward south Louisiana, strengthening over extremely warm Gulf waters as those in possible harm’s way rushed to complete storm preparations, filling sandbags, buying gas and stocking up on necessities for an expected landfall in the coming day.

Residents, especially in south Louisiana, have a 24-hour window to “batten down all the hatches,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry warned at midday while Francine was still a tropical storm.

The freshly minted Category 1 hurricane packed top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and forecasters warned it was expected to crash ashore Wednesday afternoon or evening in Louisiana with a potentially life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds — perhaps even as a Category 2 storm with winds of 96 to 110 mph (155 to 175 kph).

Ahead of the storm’s approach, lifelong New Orleans resident Roxanne Riley, 42, gathered water, snacks and other food from a Walmart and said she planned to stay at a family member’s house on high ground to avoid flooding. But she was ready to evacuate if things got worse.

“It’s very frustrating every time a storm comes in,” Riley said. “I’ll just make sure my car is ready to roll in case I need to go by tomorrow. I’m going to keep on checking to see what it’s looking like.”

By 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Francine was centered about 350 miles (560 kilometers) southwest of Morgan City, Louisiana, and was moving northeast at 10 mph (17 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in an advisory.

A hurricane warning was in effect along the Louisiana coast from Cameron eastward to Grand Isle, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of New Orleans, according to the center. A storm surge warning stretched from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the Alabama-Florida border. Such a warning means there’s a chance of life-threatening flooding.

Once Francine makes landfall, Landry said, residents should stay in place rather than venturing out onto the roads and risk blocking first responders or utility crews working to repair power lines.

Helping Francine gain hurricane status Tuesday night were the Gulf’s exceedingly warm late-summer waters. Water temperatures are about 87 degrees (31 degrees Celsius) where Francine is located, said Brian McNoldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.

“The ocean heat content averaged over the entire Gulf is the highest it’s been on record for the date,” McNoldy wrote on his blog.

In downtown New Orleans during the day, cars and trucks were lined up for blocks to collect sandbags from the parking lot of a local YMCA. CEO Erika Mann said Tuesday that 1,000 bags of sand had already been distributed by volunteers later Tuesday to people hoping to protect homes from possible flooding.

“I love that these are community people that came out,” Mann said. “It’s a beautiful effort to do what we do in New Orleans, we’re resilient and we come together to help in the times we need each other.”

One resident picking up sandbags was Wayne Grant, 33, who moved to New Orleans last year and was nervous for his first potential hurricane in the city. The low-lying rental apartment he shares with his partner had already flooded out in a storm the year before and he was not taking any chances this time around.

“It was like a kick in the face, we’ve been trying to stay up on the weather ever since,” Grant said. “We’re super invested in the place, even though it’s not ours.”

A little over three years after Hurricane Ida trashed his home in the Dulac community of coastal Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish – and about a month after he finished rebuilding – Coy Verdin was preparing for another hurricane.

“We had to gut the whole house,” he recalled in a telephone interview, rattling off a memorized inventory of the work, including a new roof and new windows.

Verdin, 55, strongly considered moving farther inland, away from the home where he makes his living on nearby Bayou Grand Caillou. After rebuilding, he said he’s there to stay.

“As long as I can. It’s getting rough, though,” he said. He was preparing to head north to ride out Francine with his daughter in Thibodaux, about a 50-minute drive away. “I don’t want to go too far so I can come back to check on my house.”

Landry said the Louisiana National Guard is being deployed to parishes that could be impacted by Francine. They are equipped with food, water, nearly 400 high-water vehicles, about 100 boats and 50 helicopters to respond to the storm, including possible search-and-rescue operations.

Francine is the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. There’s a danger of life-threatening storm surge as well as damaging hurricane-force winds, said Brad Reinhart, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center.

There’s also the potential for 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain with the possibility of 12 inches (30 centimeters) locally across much of Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday morning, Reinhart said. That heavy rainfall could also cause considerable flash and urban flooding.

The hurricane center said eastern Mississippi and especially coastal parts of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were at risk of “considerable” flash and urban flooding starting Wednesday. It said flooding was also “probable” further inland into the lower Mississippi Valley and lower Tennessee Valley from Wednesday through Friday as a disbanding Francine churns inland.

Francine is taking aim at a Louisiana coastline that has yet to fully recover since hurricanes Laura and Delta decimated Lake Charles in 2020, followed a year later by Hurricane Ida. Over the weekend, a 22-story building in Lake Charles that had become a symbol of storm destruction was imploded after sitting vacant for nearly four years, its windows shattered and covered in shredded tarps.

Francine’s storm surge on the Louisiana coast could reach as much as 10 feet (3 meters) from Cameron to Port Fourchon and into Vermilion Bay, forecasters said.

“It’s a potential for significantly dangerous, life-threatening inundation,” said Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, adding it could also send “dangerous, damaging winds quite far inland.”

He said landfall was likely somewhere between Sabine Pass — on the Texas-Louisiana line — and Morgan City, Louisiana, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) to the east.

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Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, Kevin McGill and Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed to this story.

Ernesto’s maximum sustained winds increased overnight to near 85 mph (140 kph), with higher gusts, the hurricane center said. It is expected to weaken and become a post-tropical storm by Tuesday, the center said.

The storm was centered about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was expected to pass near southeastern Newfoundland late Monday and early Tuesday, the center said. Some coastal flooding in Canada was possible.

But people all along the Northeast’s coast should be careful, the center said.

“We would certainly encourage anyone going to beaches, really, anywhere along the U.S. East Coast to just pay attention to whatever flags are up, whatever lifeguards are saying, and stay out of the water if it’s not safe,” David Zelinksy, lead meteorologist with the hurricane center, said Monday.

Flooding in Connecticut from a storm that dropped as much as 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain Sunday was unrelated to Ernesto, weather officials said. The rain washed away roads, flooded basements, and led to rescues and at least one death.

Still, swells generated by Ernesto were affecting portions of the Bahamas, Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast, as well as the Canadian Atlantic coast. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are likely in these areas during the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.

The weather service posted a coastal flood advisory and warned of a high risk for rip currents along the Atlantic coast through Monday evening, saying they “can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.”

A warning extended from Florida to the Boston area and portions of Maine.

Over the weekend, Ernesto initially had weakened to a tropical storm late Saturday after bringing heavy rain and strong winds to Bermuda, but no injuries or major incidents, Bermuda Security Minister Michael Weeks said Sunday afternoon.

Ernesto previously battered the northeastern Caribbean, leaving tens of thousands of people without water in Puerto Rico.

After cleaning up and removing debris, the Virgin Islands Department of Education said all public schools would resume operations Monday. Public school classes also were slated to start Monday in Puerto Rico, nearly a week after the original opening date.

The storm is expected to weaken significantly as it continues to curve into cooler waters, in the general direction of Ireland, and dissipate on Wednesday.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Ernesto was located about 420 miles east-northeast of Cape Race, Nova Scotia, moving northeast at 37 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Days ago, Ernesto forced residents of Bermuda to stay indoors, and more than 23,000 people lost power, officials said.

According to AccuWeather, it’s uncommon for the eye of a hurricane to make landfall in Bermuda. It noted that since 1850, only 11 of 130 tropical storms that came within 100 miles of Bermuda had made landfall.

Ernesto also previously battered the northeast Caribbean, where it left tens of thousands of people without water in Puerto Rico.

AccuWeather experts expect there will be a brief pause in activity in the Atlantic after Ernesto, but they are forecasting “the tropics to shift into high gear by the end of August.”

Hurricane season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30, has entered the busiest time of the year from mid-August to October. The next named storm will be Francine.

Though July was quiet, experts at Colorado State said the remainder of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season should be “extremely active,” with the likelihood of 10 more hurricanes.

Colorado State’s department of atmospheric science’s final 2024 hurricane season forecast called for a “well-above-average” August through November, although it reduced its number of named storms from its July forecast, from 25 down to 23. The 1991 to 2020 average is 14.4.

The Colorado State team still expects 12 hurricanes (the 1991-2020 average was 7.2), and is forecasting that six of those will reach major hurricane strength (Category 3, 4 or 5). The 1991-2020 average is 3.2.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration echoed Colorado State’s prediction in its updated 2024 hurricane season forecast, calling for an “extremely active” remainder of the season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 storm Thursday night as it barreled toward Bermuda after leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico without power or water. Sweltering heat enveloped the U.S. territory, raising concerns about people’s health.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Bermuda, with Ernesto expected to pass near or over the island Saturday.

Ernesto is forecast to possibly reach Category 3 strength on Friday and drop between four to eight inches of rain in Bermuda, with up to 12 inches in isolated areas.

The storm is then expected to pass near or east of Atlantic Canada on Monday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Ernesto barreled toward Bermuda on Thursday after leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico without power or water as sweltering heat enveloped the U.S. territory, raising concerns about people’s health.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Bermuda, with Ernesto expected to pass near or over the island on Saturday.

The Category 1 storm was located about 450 miles (730 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda on Thursday afternoon. It had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph) and was moving north at 13 mph (20 kph) over open waters.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is for every resident to use this time to prepare. We have seen in the past the devastating effects of complacency,” said National Security Minister Michael Weeks.

Ernesto was forecast to near Category 3 hurricane status on Friday and then decrease in strength as it approaches Bermuda, where it is expected to drop between 6-12 inches of rain, with up to 15 inches in isolated areas.

“All of the guidance show this system as a large hurricane near Bermuda,” said the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Ernesto is then expected to pass near or east of Atlantic Canada on Monday.

Meanwhile, the spinning storm on Thursday was generating southern winds in Puerto Rico, which have a heating effect as opposed to the typical cooling trade winds that blow from the east.

“We know a lot of people don’t have power,” said Ernesto Morales with the National Weather Service as he warned of extreme heat and urged people to stay hydrated.

More than 290,000 of 1.4 million customers remained in the dark Thursday evening, more than a day after Ernesto swiped past Puerto Rico late Tuesday as a tropical storm before strengthening into a hurricane. A maximum of 735,000 clients were without power on Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands also were without water as many questioned the widespread power outage given that Ernesto was only a tropical storm when it spun past the island.

“I haven’t slept at all,” said Ramón Mercedes Paredes, a 41-year-old construction worker who planned to sleep outdoors on Thursday night to beat the heat. “I haven’t even been able to take a shower.”

At a small park in the Santurce neighborhood of the San Juan capital, Alexander Reyna, a 32-year-old construction worker, sipped on a bright red sports drink that friends provided as roosters crowed nearby above the slap of dominoes.

He had no water or power and planned to spend all day at the park as he lamented the lack of breeze, a slight film of sweat already forming on his forehead: “I have to come here because I cannot stand to be at home.”

The situation worried many who lived through Hurricane Maria, a powerful Category 4 storm that hit Puerto Rico in September 2017 and was blamed for at least 2,975 deaths in its sweltering aftermath. It also razed the island’s power grid, which is still being rebuilt.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory on Thursday warning of “dangerously hot and humid conditions.”

Faustino Peguero, 50, said he was concerned about his wife, who has fibromyalgia, heart failure and other health conditions and needs electricity. He has a small generator at home, but he is running out of gasoline and cannot afford to buy more because he hasn’t found work.

“It’s chaos,” he said.

Officials said they don’t know when power will be fully restored as concerns grow about the health of many in Puerto Rico who cannot afford generators or solar panels on the island of 3.2 million people with a more than 40% poverty rate.

Crews have flown more than 540 miles (870 kilometers) across Puerto Rico and identified 400 power line failures, with 150 of them already fixed, said Juan Saca, president of Luma Energy, a private company that operates the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico. The remaining failures will take more time to fix because they involve fallen trees, he added.

“We haven’t seen anything catastrophic,” he said.

When pressed for an estimate of when power would be restored, Alejandro González, Luma’s operations director, declined to say.

“It would be irresponsible to provide an exact date,” he said.

At least 250,000 customers across Puerto Rico also were without water given the power outages, down from a maximum of 350,000. Among them was 65-year-old Gisela Pérez, who was starting to sweat as she cooked sweet plantains, pork, chicken and spaghetti at a street-side diner. After her shift, she planned to buy gallons of water, since she was especially concerned about her two small dogs: Mini and Lazy.

“They cannot go without it,” she said. “They come first.”

The disturbance is moving quickly to the west-northwest at 28 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. forecast.

The forward momentum is expected to decrease over the next couple days while Ernesto  tracks west  into the Caribbean Sea, passing portions of the Leeward Islands late Monday or Tuesday and near or over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands by Tuesday evening.

Forecasters expect Ernesto to strengthen into a hurricane as it arcs north toward Bermuda. If it does develop into a hurricane, it would be the season’s third, after Beryl and Debby.

Forecasters warned of possibly heavy rainfall and dangerous flash flooding in the Leeward Islands, a chain of islands in the northeast Caribbean Sea, as well as Antigua, Barbuda, Guadaloupe, where tropical storm warnings are posted. Those dangerous conditions are expected in Puerto Rico by Tuesday.

Accuweather meteorologists say after Tropical Storm Ernesto becomes a hurricane, rough surf and dangerous rip currents are expected across the entier East Coast of the United States later in the week.

“Rip currents could be very dangerous along the East coast of the United States. We often see rescues and loss of life at beaches during these types of storms,” AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Expert Alex DaSilva said in a prepared statement. “The storm may be hundreds of miles out to sea and the weather could look great at beaches along Florida, the Carolinas, even up to New England, but everyone needs to be aware of the risks and dangers at the beach.”

As of 5 p.m. Monday, the depression’s highest sustained winds had picked up to 40 mph. The system was 295 miles east-southeast of Antigua and 590 miles from San Juan, Puerto Rico, moving west-northwest at 28 mph.

The forecast track has the storm staying well off the U.S. east coast.

Hurricane season, which runs from June 1-Nov. 30, has entered the busiest time of the year from mid-August to October.

Though July was quiet, experts at Colorado State this week said the remainder of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season should be “extremely active,” with the likelihood of 10 more hurricanes.

Colorado State’s department of atmospheric science has released its final 2024 hurricane season forecast for the year, calling for a “well-above-average” August through November.

One bright note is that it actually reduced its number of named storms from its July forecast, from 25 down to 23. The 1991 to 2020 average is 14.4.

The Colorado State team still expects 12 hurricanes (the 1991-2020 average was 7.2), and is forecasting that six of those will reach major hurricane strength (Category 3, 4 or 5). The 1991-2020 average is 3.2.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday echoed Colorado State’s prediction in its updated 2024 hurricane season forecast, calling for an “extremely active” remainder of the season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The weather system previously known as Hurricane Debby was not quite done with parts of the U.S. Sunday as flood warnings remained in effect in North Carolina and thousands were without power in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

After hitting Florida as a hurricane Aug. 5, the storm spent nearly a week unleashing tornadoes and flooding, damaging homes and taking lives along the East Coast before moving into Canada on Saturday.

While many rivers had receded by Sunday, flood warnings remained in effect across central and eastern North Carolina, where more thunderstorms were possible over the next few days. With the ground already saturated from Debby, the National Weather Service said localized downpours could result in additional flash flooding throughout the coastal Carolinas.

Authorities in Lumberton, N.C., said in a Facebook post Saturday that one person died after driving into floodwaters on a closed road and getting swept away. Officials didn’t identify the driver, but said that what they hoped would be a post-storm rescue, quickly turned into a recovery.

“It bears repeating,” the agency said in the post. “Never drive into flooded roadways and obey road closed signage.”

In New Bern, North Carolina, business was brisk at the Halftime Pub and Grub restaurant Sunday afternoon just after a flash flood warning was issued, said server Chastity Bettis.

“Right now, it’s thundering, sprinkling and pretty dark so I’d say it’s going to start raining hard here pretty soon,” she said. “If you live here, you’re pretty used to hurricane season and it being like this, but the last week or two we’ve been getting it pretty rough.”

In South Carolina, the National Weather Service’s Charleston office warned Sunday that as much as 3 to 4 inches of additional rainfall was possible in the afternoon and evening, and could lead to flash flooding. Showers and thunderstorms could develop across Charleston County down through Chatham County and inland, the office said.

Even in drier areas, more than 35,000 homes and businesses in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont still had no electricity as of Sunday afternoon, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us. Some 23,000 outages lingered in hard-hit Ohio, where Debby-related storms including tornadoes blew through the northeastern part of the state on Wednesday.

Debby’s last day and night over the U.S. inundated parts of New York, Pennsylvania and New England with rain and flash flooding on Friday, prompting evacuations and rescues.

Stacey Urban, whose family owns the Moss Vanwie Farm in Canisteo, New York, said the floodwaters destroyed about three-fourths of the 1,200 acre farm, including about 400 acres of corn, 200 acres of soybeans and hundreds more acres of hay used to feed their cows and other animals.

“This is complete and total devastation,” she said by phone Sunday as fire department officials were bailing out the home’s flooded basement. “We never thought this would happen.”

Urban said the family, which has operated the farm about 37 years, hasn’t had a chance to take a full accounting of the damage but said all their 150 cows and 200 youngstock are safe and all farm equipment has been recovered.

“Whether it all works is another thing,” she said. “The water came in fast.”

Recovery efforts were ongoing in upstate New York’s Steuben County. Officials announced plans to distribute water bottles and clean-up kits to residents impacted by flash flooding on Sunday and Monday. The Red Cross also opened a shelter for flood victims at the Corning-Painted Post High School and planned to operate it until Monday.

The county, located along the Pennsylvania state line, declared a state of emergency Friday and ordered several towns evacuated as flood waters engulfed homes, farms and roadways. The area has been hit by devastating flash floods in prior storms, including in 2021.

“Twice in three years the Tuscarora Creek turned from a gentle stream into a raging beast,” county officials wrote in a post on the government’s Facebook page Sunday afternoon. “It’s just too much. The sun still rose Saturday. Volunteers fixed breakfast. People from all four towns rolled up their sleeves, took a deep breath.”

Officials in Tioga County in north-central Pennsylvania said Sunday morning that 10 teams of emergency service volunteers would be out surveying residents about damage as responders kept up the search for a person missing since the flooding.

“Please be kind to them, because these are volunteers … they work here in the 911 center, they’re fire, police, they’re EMS, these folks are dedicating their Sunday to help you out,” said County Commissioner Marc Rice.

Faith-based disaster relief organizations were also mobilizing to help assess damage and provide help, state Rep. Clint Owlett said. “That’s going to be a big deal.”

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center is tracking another potential tropical storm in the Atlantic. Officials said a tropical depression is likely to form within the next day or two and could approach portions of the Greater Antilles by the middle of the week.

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Ramer reported from in Concord, New Hampshire. Philip Marcelo in New York also contributed to this report.