Hurricane Edouard Churns Surf as It Parallels East Coast

Holiday weekend vacationers kept a wary eye on the sea Saturday as Hurricane Edouard followed a northerly course parallel to the East Coast, throwing pounding surf at the beaches.

Though the storm was hundreds of miles offshore, a hurricane watch was in effect from Cape Charles, Va., to Plymouth, Mass., and a tropical storm warning was posted from Cape Charles to Cape Henlopen, Del. Forecasters predicted the storm would keep churning north and bypass North Carolina.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Edouard, with sustained winds of 115 mph, was centered 450 miles south-southeast of Long Island. It was moving north at nearly 16 mph and hurricane-force winds extended out 115 miles.

Off Long Island’s southern coast, 8-foot seas prompted the Navy to suspend its search for wreckage from TWA Flight 800. Two salvage ships were taken to port for the first time since the search began after the July 17 crash.

In spite of the high surf, Edouard was far enough away that the weather along the shore was good.

“What storm? We don’t have any storms here,” said Tom Garvey, owner of the Atlantic Beach Causeway Marina here. “It’s a normal weekend in Atlantic Beach. The sun’s out, and we’ve got a lot of customers out boating.”

Up the coast on the Outer Banks, surf washed across the only highway along the narrow island chain. State crews used front-end loaders to push sand off the pavement, briefly interrupting ferry service to neighboring Ocracoke Island.

Along the New Jersey shore, the beach was pounded by waves of about 8 to 10 feet.

One man died when his boat capsized in the surf at Longport, and the body of a surfer was found in the water at Toms River.

A man surfing at Ocean City was thrown headfirst to the sand by a wave and suffered a broken neck.