Hurricane Maria may be more than 100 miles from our coastline, but it’s still having an impact. The National Weather Service says that high surf, dangerous rip currents and hazardous boating conditions will be in the region through Wednesday.
The hurricane’s closest approach to the area is expected Tuesday night.
John Scull is a Lieutenant with Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue.
“We encourage all swimmers to stay out of the water. With such a strong storm offshore, we have heavy surf, high surf. It’s creating large dangerous rip currents. Even swimmers who are the strongest of swimmers are still pulled out by rip currents, you are not going to be able to swim against a strong rip current that’s being created by a long – period hurricane swell.”
Along the coast, surf heights could range from 5 to 8 feet in Brunswick County and from 6 to 9 feet in Pender and New Hanover counties through Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
A high surf advisory is in effect for the area.