After Slamming Florida, Hermine Threatens East Coast

Lee and Gary Moulton walk from their home along what is left of a road that was destroyed by Hurricane Hermine in the Alligator Point community of Franklin County, Fla., on Sept. 2, 2016. Andrew Wardlow/News Herald via AP

DEKLE BEACH, Fla.—The first hurricane to hit Florida in more than a decade wiped away beachside buildings and toppled trees onto homes Friday before plowing inland on a path that could send it rolling up the densely populated East Coast with heavy rain, high winds and flooding.

Hermine (her-MEEN) quickly weakened to a tropical storm and was spinning inland along the North Carolina coast late Friday. But the National Hurricane Center predicted it would regain hurricane strength late in the weekend after emerging over the Atlantic Ocean. The system could then lash coastal areas as far north as Connecticut and Rhode Island through Labor Day.

“Anyone along the U.S. East Coast needs to be paying close attention this weekend,” said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

Chris Boland, rear right, whose home just missed a direct hit from a downed pine tree over the power lines, and Julia Tyson look over the aftermath Tropical Storm Hermine in Valdosta, Ga., on Sept. 2, 2016. Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP