Hurricane Bill: Less Organized, Still a Danger
Hurricane Bill is less than 350 miles from Bermuda.
Aug. 21, 2009— -- A slightly more disorganized Hurricane Bill is expected to remain offshore this weekend, but could still spell trouble for end-of-summer beachgoers on the United States' East Coast.
Big waves and rip currents today and throughout the weekend could be dangerous at the water's edge from Florida north to Maine.
Along the southern coast, the National Weather Service is already warning people to stay out of the water to prevent drownings in hazardous conditions.
Watch "World News With Charles Gibson" tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET for the full report.
As of 11 a.m. Friday morning, the Category 3 hurricane was 335 miles south-southwest of Bermuda, where a hurricane watch is in effect and rain and flooding are expected today and Saturday. The storm was about 755 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., according to the morning update from the National Hurricane Center.
Visit ABC News' special section on Hurricane Season 2009.
Waves could be as high as 14 feet off the coast of North Carolina and 11 feet off of the Mid-Atlantic. Swells are expected to extend as far north as New York's Long Island by this afternoon.
"As the storm moves up in the general direction between Bermuda and then off the East Coast and off the Canadian Maritimes, the swells that emanate out from it will be working their way towards the East Coast," National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said Thursday.
On Sunday, New Englanders could see the worst conditions, with gusty winds and waves as high as 23 feet being forecast by NOAA off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., as the storm travels north.
That means a likely damper on the Obama family's vacation to Martha's Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast, as well as a kink in the plans of countless other people trying to fit in a final weekend at the shore.
