Two people have died, and another is missing after Hurricane Erin passed through the East Coast of the United States. PEOPLE reported that the brutal storm went from a Category 1 hurricane on Friday, August 15, to a Category 5 storm the following day.
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Hurricane Erin’s Aftermath Causes Two Deaths, While One Person Remains Missing
According to the Associated Press, two people died after they were swimming in the heavy current. Now, rescue teams are searching for a man who went missing after his boat capsized.
The first victim drowned on Saturday, August 23, after a powerful current pulled him in from the New York coast. This was 59-year-old Ishmoile Mohammed from South Carolina. He had been visiting Sailors Haven in the Fire Island National Seashore when he passed.
The second victim who perished on August 24 was a 17-year-old boy from New Hampshire. He had been swimming with some family members off Hampton Beach that night.
Although lifeguards brought him to shore after he was pulled by the strong ocean current, he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Then, in Massachusetts, a police crew and U.S. Coast Guard members resumed their search on Monday for a man in his 50s who went missing. His boat capsized off Salisbury Beach on Saturday. Meanwhile, the other person on his boat was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Effects Of This Deadly Hurricane
Although Hurricane Erin had passed through the East Coast the week prior and was weaker, it was still capable of causing powerful currents. Beaches began to reopen on Friday, but the waves were still terribly strong in some regions.
Hurricane Erin first hit the Cape Verde Islands on August 12. According to Reuters, the storm killed nine people and displaced 1,500 others.
“It is a rare situation because what was recorded is above our 30-year climatological average,” said Ester Brito, an executive at Cape Verde’s meteorology institute.
It intensified into a Category 5 storm by Saturday, August 16, before dropping to Category 3 the next day. Then, by Monday, August 18, the hurricane grew back to a Category 4. The storm was threatening the residents of Turks and Caicos, per the NHC.
Eventually, the storm went out to sea and dissipated. On its way out, it drew up high currents off the East Coast, resulting in two tragic deaths.