Thousands of visitors abandoned their beach vacations and evacuated North Carolina’s Outer Banks on Tuesday as a weakening Hurricane Maria moved northward in the Atlantic, churning up surf and possible flooding.
Meanwhile on Puerto Rico, more than 3.4 million U.S. citizens still lack adequate food, water and fuel five days after Maria pounded the island as a Category 4 hurricane, and officials said electrical power may not be fully restored for more than a month.
Maria’s top sustained winds dropped Tuesday to near 75 mph (120 kph), and the National Hurricane Center expected it to weaken into a tropical storm by Tuesday night or Wednesday.
The center remained far offshore, centered about 175 miles (285 kilometers) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and moving north at 7 mph (11 kph). Still, a tropical storm warning was in effect for the North Carolina coast from Bogue Inlet to the Virginia border, and meteorologists said a storm surge could hit from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Hatteras.
Hurricane Lee, meanwhile, was gradually strengthening far off in the open Atlantic, where it was expected to swing north and east again before tropical storm-force winds reach Bermuda.