Hurricane Joaquin is set to wreak havoc in the United States and the East Coast is preparing for the worst storm conditions since it is rapidly intensifying. The storm has already reached Category 3 status late Wednesday night but is expected to strengthen into a category 4 storm on Thursday night.
After passing through the northeast of the Bahamas on Thursday, Hurricane Joaquin is expected to hit the East Coast on Friday and Saturday. According to AccuWeather, the storm will bring pounding surf, dangerous seas, strong winds, drenching squalls and flash flooding to the central Bahamas. Wind gusts could also reach between 75 and 100 mph on some of the islands.
On Wednesday night, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe issued a state of emergency throughout the entire state in response to the recent flooding and in preparation for Hurricane Joaquin. While Bahamasair has cancelled flights for Thursday in parts of the islands.
Hurricane Joaquin is the third hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season. And though not all forecast models agreed on whether it would make landfall in the United States, warnings were issued as northeastern America faced a hammering rainstorm that flooded the streets and messed up travel from Washington to Boston, Reuters reported.
Governors in surrounding mid-Atlantic states that were hardly hit by 2012's Superstorm Sandy, particularly in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, are also closely monitoring the progress of the storm since they were already facing heavy rains unrelated to Hurricane Joaquin. Even though emergency declarations have not been issued, they already advised residents to prepare for a possible severe storm.
"Our state has seen the damage that extreme weather can cause time and time again," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "Take precautions for more heavy storms in the coming days."
Moreover, one community in New Jersey is bracing for the potential impact, NBC New York noted. In Belmar, New Jersey, crew members with bulldozers are creating piles of sand to protect against a potential storm surge on Tuesday. The Jersey shore town is also pumping water from Lake Como to protect against rising waters.
Meanwhile, gloomy weather is expected to last until the weekend. However, it's unclear if how much rain and wind will struck the region since Hurricane Joaquin's path remains uncertain.
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