Hurricane Hermine tore a path of destruction across Florida on Friday, leaving more than 253,000 homes and businesses without power, flooding low-lying areas and raising concerns about the spread of the Zika virus due to the massive pools of standing water left behind.

The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma more than a decade ago, Hermine came ashore early on Friday near St Marks, Florida, 30km south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 130kph and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.

It was set to snarl US Labour Day holiday travel after battering Florida's US$89-billion tourism industry.

The tempest headed toward the Atlantic seaboard on a path where tens of millions of Americans live, causing storm watches and warnings stretching to New Jersey, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

One homeless man was hit by a tree and died, Florida Governor Rick Scott said, but officials have not confirmed whether the death was storm-related.

"Now is the time to come together. There is a lot of work to do," Scott told a news conference, warning people to look out for downed power lines and avoid driving in pools of standing water.

Concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battles an outbreak of the Zika virus.

"... It is incredibly important that everyone does their part to combat the Zika virus by dumping standing water, no matter how small. Any amount of standing water can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes," Scott said.

According to the Florida Department of Health, there have been 47 cases of Zika in people believed to have contracted the virus through local mosquitoes. Active transmission is thought to be occurring only in two small areas around Miami.

As the sun rose on Friday morning (Saturday NZT) on Hudson Beach, just north of Tampa, cars sat askew in the middle of flooded out roads. Palm fronds, tree branches and garbage cans were scattered about.

Overnight, Pasco County crews rescued more than a dozen people and brought them to shelters after their homes were flooded.

Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in nearby New Port Richey, around 1.30am local time (5.30pm NZT) on Friday as emergency workers carried out a mandatory evacuation.

"The canal started creeping up toward the house and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," he said.

A weakening Hermine moved across southern Georgia, blowing winds of 95km at 8am local time (12am Saturday NZT), according to the NHC. The tropical storm was expected to reach the coastal Carolinas later on Friday (Saturday NZT), then move offshore from North Carolina on Saturday (Sunday NZT). Forecasters said it could strengthen over the sea.

In Cedar Key, an island community in northwest Florida, waters rose more than 2.9 metres, among the highest surges ever seen, the National Weather Service said.

Officials in the affected region on Friday (Saturday NZT) warned that homes continued to be threatened by high water and implored people to avoid flooded roads.

"This is one of the worst that we have seen in the city in a long time, and unfortunately, it is not over yet," Mayor Rick Kriseman of St Petersburg, Florida, told reporters.

On its current path, the storm could dump as much as 38cm of rain on coastal Georgia, and the Carolinas. Forecasters warned of "life-threatening" floods and flash floods.

The governors of Georgia and North Carolina declared emergencies in affected regions.

As it moved north across Florida, the storm continued to whip up heavy rain. Trees blocked roads and bridges were shut to assess the damage caused by high waters, the Florida Department of Transportation said.</s>Tropical Storm Hermine moves northeast across the Carolinas on Friday afternoon in this satellite image from the National Hurricane Center. The storm slammed into Florida's Big Bend around 1:30 a.m. EDT Friday as a category 1 hurricane. Forecasters expect it to regain strength when it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Image courtesy National Hurricane Center/NOAA

Beach trash cans are strewn along the dunes from high winds along the coast from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

A woman picks up her small dog after tides surged along the beach in high winds from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

A and and daughter hold themselves against high winds along the coast from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

A young girl struggles to walk along the beach in high winds along the coast from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

A surfer struggles to hold on to his surfboard in high winds along the coast from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

A young man uses a raining parachute to pull his boogie board along the incoming tide as winds reach 50-mph along the coast from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

The Storm Warning flag flies above the beach in high winds along the coast from Tropical Storm Hermine in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on September 2, 2016. Beach goers were discouraged from entering the water due to rip currents, turbulent waves and winds exceeding 50-mph. Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The Sunshine State hardly lived up to its namesake on Friday, as Hurricane Hermine stormed ashore and left behind a soggy mess that killed one person and left a quarter-million others without electricity, authorities said.

Hermine arrived about 1:30 a.m. EDT Friday at Florida's Big Bend area and carved a path between Tampa and the Panhandle with hurricane-force winds and torrential rains. Officials said a 56-year-old man died when he was hit by a falling tree.

John Mayes had been sleeping in a tent behind a gas station in Ocala when a tree fell without warning. Emergency workers had to cut through the tree to get to him, but they declared him dead on the spot.

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Several Homes and businesses in Taylor County, located in the Panhandle area, were damaged from rising flood waters and at least 10 feet of storm surge. In Pasco County, unconfirmed reports of a tornado overturned a tractor trailer and downed trees.

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott said crews began assessing damages Friday afternoon and said the storm cut power to about 253,000 customers. He warned residents to begin cleanup with caution.

After reaching shore, Hermine immediately began losing strength -- as storms pick up their speed from warm water in the oceans -- and was downgraded to a tropical storm early Friday as it headed northeast.

By early Friday evening, it was located over North Carolina -- about 15 miles east of Charlotte, N.C. -- and making its way to the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said.

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"We expect to see downed traffic lights, road signs and power lines that must be avoided. We also expect to have significant amounts of flood water along coastal and inland areas," Scott said earlier Friday.

Hermine was the first hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Forecasters said the storm, the eighth named system of the year, made landfall just south of Tallahassee as a Category 1 hurricane, bringing with it winds of 80 mph.

By late Friday, tropical storm warnings had been discontinued for Florida's Gulf Coast, but meteorologists said tornadoes are possible for North and South Carolina throughout Friday night.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm should re-strengthen once it moves into the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday and picks up more steam from the warm water there.

"The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline. There is the possibility of life-threatening inundation during the next 48 hours at most coastal locations between the North Carolina/Virginia border and Bridgeport, Conn.," the National Hurricane Center said.

A tropical storm watch has been posted for parts of New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island as Hermine continues north. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned the storm could cause severe damages, including flooding.

"I don't want anyone to take this one lightly," he said Friday morning. "There are some elements of this storm that are very, very troubling."</s>Hurricane Hermine, the first hurricane to strike Florida in more than a decade, made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast early Friday morning, pummeling small seaside towns with powerful 80 mph winds and heavy rain.

The Category 1 hurricane crashed ashore early Friday near St. Marks, a tiny town with a population of less than 300, in the low-lying, marshy Big Bend area, where the state's peninsula meets the Panhandle.

In St. Marks, the storm surge flooded the Riverside Café, the Sweet Magnolia Inn and Bo Lynn’s Grocery, the community’s only grocery store. Yet it did not reach the post office as it did when Hurricane Kate swept through the region in 1983.

“It just came up like a torrent, like you’re on the river rapids,” said Denise Waters, owner of the Sweet Magnolia Inn, which began to fill with 18 inches of water around dusk Thursday night. Storm water pooled in all the lower rooms, damaging her etched-glass doors and baby grand piano, and leaving mud all over her baseboards.

“Oh boy, it’s a mess, for sure,” Waters said, as her husband, Andy, drove 15 miles to visit his 92-year-old mother, who had taken refuge in a hotel. “I don’t know what we’re going to do as she needs oxygen and all the hotels have lost power.”

After pounding through a mostly undeveloped area of Wakulla County, full of national wildlife refuges and forests, Hermine stormed on to the state’s capital of Tallahassee, which has a population of more than 181,000.

Hermine downed trees and tree limbs and knocked down power lines, blocking roads and cutting off power to more than 253,000 utility customers across Florida.

Yet there were few reports of fatalities or injuries. In Marion County in Central Florida, a homeless man was hit by a tree, but officials were waiting for the coroner to confirm the death was storm related.

At least 59 shelters were operational in Florida on Thursday night, serving approximately 300 people, the governor’s office said. The American Red Cross reported that five shelters were open in Georgia, sheltering 140 people.

“We got a little less rain that we thought,” said Florida Gov. Rick Scott in a Friday morning news briefing. “What I worry about now is people driving in standing water, people touching power lines… We need to be careful. By end of the day, hopefully a lot of this will be cleaned up.”

In Tallahassee, a tree fell on to Amy Park’s brick home about 11:45 p.m. Thursday night, creating a 10-by-10-foot hole in the middle of her living room and another in her kitchen. As rain poured through the roof, flooding her home, her husband and a friend emptied buckets through the night.

“We have six kids sleeping on mattresses in the hallway right now,” she said in an interview with local television station WCTV. “The house is actually flooding, so we’ve grabbed pillows, blankets, couch cushions, anything we can to try to stop flooding from coming into the hallway where the children are.”

As the hurricane traveled north, residents were urged to remain indoors and not travel unless absolutely necessary as crews from the Florida Department of Transportation cleared debris and fallen trees from roads.

A few hours after landfall, Hermine weakened into a tropical storm as it moved further inland toward Georgia, according to the National Hurricane Center. At 11 a.m. EDT, it was about 55 miles west-southwest of Savannah, Ga., with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. Hermine is forecast to move up into the Carolinas late Friday and Saturday, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 175 miles from the center.

Tropical storm warnings has been extended northward, all the way up to Fenwick Island, Del. Major cities, such as New York City and Long Island, are now under a tropical storm watch.

A few hours after landfall, Hermine weakened into a tropical storm as it moved further inland toward Georgia, according to the National Hurricane Center. At 5 a.m., it was about 20 miles west of Valdosta, Ga., with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph. Hermine is forecast to move farther inland across southeastern Georgia on Friday and into the Carolinas on Friday night and Saturday, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 175 miles from the center.

Hermine is the first hurricane to strike the state since Wilma hit just south of Marco Island in southwest Florida in 2005, killing five people and causing $20 billion in damage.

Governors in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina have declared states of emergency in a swath of counties: Gov. Rick Scott for 51 Florida counties, Gov. Nathan Deal for 56 Georgia counties and Gov. Pat McCrory for 33 North Carolina counties.

Friday morning, the Weather Channel reported that 16 million people were under a tropical storm warning and 6 million were under a tropical storm watch.

As the National Weather Service in Tallahassee forecast a storm tide of up to 9 feet that could lead to flooding, mandatory evacuations were in effect across low-lying, coastal areas of Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor, Dixie and Levy counties. Voluntary evacuations were issued along the coast of Walton, Gulf and Jefferson counties.

“We’re right in the target, directly in the bull’s-eye,” said Steve Spradley, director of emergency management for Florida’s Taylor County, as a slow, steady rain soaked his region in the bend of the panhandle. “It’s quiet. We’re just sitting and waiting and planning.”</s>Tropical storm and flooding watches and warnings were in effect along the Atlantic seaboard from South Carolina north to Rhode Island as the potentially life-threatening storm moved along a stretch inhabited by tens of millions of Americans.

"Hermine not only threatens to foil weekend getaways at the beach, but has the potential to cause damage in some communities and pose risk to the lives of those who venture in the surf or on the seas," said Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist, on Accuweather.com.

The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The threat of severe weather caused officials in Atlantic City to cancel concerts over the weekend and beaches to close in several coastal communities.

Labor Day weekend plans for thousands of vacationers who were headed to popular beach spots along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry.

"We’ll probably stay inside watching movies or going to the movie theater," Joan Whalen told an ABC affiliate in Virginia after canceling plans to head to the beach for the weekend.

Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.

As of 2 a.m. EDT, the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was about 115 miles (185 km) west of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where 60 mph (95 kmh) winds were reported, the hurricane center said.

Early Saturday morning, crews in Wilmington, North Carolina rescued several people who were sitting on top of their vehicle after a flood engulfed their street, photos from local media showed. At least one tornado was reported touching down in North Carolina on Saturday, causing at least one injury, local media reported.

On Friday the storm passed near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving some 51,000 power outages across the state, said state emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker.

Becker said localized flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of "downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars," along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes.

A total of about 150,000 households were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, utility companies reported on Saturday.

Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded.

Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, as emergency teams carried out a mandatory evacuation.

"The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," Jewett said.

One storm-related death was reported by authorities in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a fallen tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.

In addition to powerful winds extending up to 185 miles (295 km) from its center, Hermine was expected to unleash a dangerous storm surge in the Hampton Roads area of tidewater Virginia, where flooding could become 3 to 5 feet deep, the NHC warned.

The storm also could douse several southeastern and mid-Atlantic states with up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain through Sunday, the agency said.

New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides.

In Florida, concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battled an outbreak of the Zika virus.</s>There's a storm brewing, and it's not just in the Gulf Of Mexico, but on Twitter — over the name of a hurricane that is due to hit the Gulf Coast of Florida on Thursday night.

The argument is over whether storm Hermine should have been named after the Harry Potter character Hermione or even the late Cincinnati gorilla, Harambe.

More than 2,500 people have already signed a Change.org petition urging the World Meteorological Organization to change the name to pay tribute to Harambe, who was shot dead in May after a young boy fell into his enclosure at the city's zoo.

'Tropical Storm Hermine sounds terrible, and is disrespectful to the great Harambe. To honor Harambe, a renaming is required to continue his legacy,' the petition notes.

A number of Twitter users appear to be campaigning for the storm to be renamed Hermione after one of Harry Potter's best wizarding friends.

On social media Wednesday, the National Weather Service made it clear the name didn't have anything to do with Hermione Granger, one of the lead characters from the wildly popular Harry Potter series.

'We now have TS Hermine in the Gulf of Mexico! This is pronounced 'her-MEEN' instead of a certain character's name,' NWS in Huntsville said.

In German versions of the fictional series, however, Hermione is named 'Hermine,' the feminine form of the name Herman.

Despite the good intentions of the general public, the names for tropical storms come from a pre-determined list that see each season start at the beginning of the alphabet, alternating between genders, on a six-year cycle.

The names are only retired if a storm is particularly deadly or catastrophic. Only then, can new names be introduced.

It was a system that was developed by the World Meteorological Organization in 1979 to avoid confusion if more than one storm system developed at the same time.

Hermine, the French version of Hermione, is derived from the Greek messenger god, Hermes, and is the eighth tropical storm of the year.

In 2010, a different Tropical Storm Hermine killed four people and caused extensive flooding in Texas.</s>Hurricane Hermine wreaked havoc across Florida on Friday, causing widespread power outages and flooding before diminishing into a tropical storm and plowing up the Atlantic Coast into the Carolinas with a still-potent mix of high winds and heavy rains.

 The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, Hermine swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.

 Torrential downpours and high surf left parts of some communities under water early Friday, with mandatory evacuations ordered in parts of five northwestern Florida counties.

 State officials said electricity had been knocked out to nearly 300,000 homes and businesses by afternoon.

 One storm-related death was reported by authorities in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a fallen tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.

 Hermine was expected to snarl Labor Day holiday travel as it churned northeast for several more days after battering Florida’s $89 billion tourism industry.

 While maximum sustained winds had weakened to 50 mph (80 kph), the tempest headed to the Atlantic seaboard along a path inhabited by tens of millions of Americans, prompting storm watches and warnings as far north as Rhode Island.

 As of 9:00pm EDT (0100 GMT), the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was passing near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving some 51,000 power outages across the state, said state emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker.

 Becker said localised flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of ‘downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars,’ along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes.

 One mobile home was virtually sliced in two by a fallen tree, but authorities had no reports of serious storm-related injuries or fatalities, Becker added.

 Likewise, emergency officials reported no storm deaths in Georgia, which Hermine swept through on its way to South Carolina, but said at least 100,000 utility customers were without power at one point.

 Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

 The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast Friday night, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

 In addition to powerful winds extending up to 185 miles (295 km) from its center, Hermine was expected to unleash a dangerous storm surge in the Hampton Roads area of tidewater Virginia, where flooding could become 3 to 5 feet deep, the NHC warned.

 The storm also could douse several southeastern and mid-Atlantic states with up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain through Sunday, the agency said.

 New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater.

 New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state’s emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators.

 New York City mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides. ‘I say that to people who go the beach, I say that to surfers: Don’t even think about it,’ De Blasio told reporters.

 In Florida, concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battled an outbreak of the Zika virus.

 ‘It is incredibly important that everyone does their part to combat the Zika virus by dumping standing water, no matter how small,’ Florida governor Rick Scott told a news conference.

 Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded.

 Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, as emergency teams carried out a mandatory evacuation.

 ‘The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn’t high tide it looked like it was coming inside,’ Jewett said.</s>Sept 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. East Coast faces a potential mix of dangerously high winds and heavy rains over the long holiday weekend as Tropical Storm Hermine plowed up the Atlantic Coast on Saturday, leaving a path of destruction in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Tropical storm and flooding watches and warnings were in effect along the Atlantic seaboard from South Carolina north to Rhode Island as the potentially life-threatening storm moved along a stretch inhabited by tens of millions of Americans.

"Hermine not only threatens to foil weekend getaways at the beach, but has the potential to cause damage in some communities and pose risk to the lives of those who venture in the surf or on the seas," said Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist, on Accuweather.com.

The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The threat of severe weather caused officials in Atlantic City to cancel concerts over the weekend and beaches to close in several coastal communities.

Labor Day weekend plans for thousands of vacationers who were headed to popular beach spots along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry.

"We'll probably stay inside watching movies or going to the movie theater," Joan Whalen told an ABC affiliate in Virginia after canceling plans to head to the beach for the weekend.

Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.

As of 2 a.m. EDT, the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was about 115 miles (185 km) west of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where 60 mph (95 kmh) winds were reported, the hurricane center said.

Early Saturday morning, crews in Wilmington, North Carolina rescued several people who were sitting on top of their vehicle after a flood engulfed their street, photos from local media showed. At least one tornado was reported touching down in North Carolina on Saturday, causing at least one injury, local media reported.

On Friday the storm passed near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving some 51,000 power outages across the state, said state emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker.

Becker said localized flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of "downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars," along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes.

A total of about 150,000 households were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, utility companies reported on Saturday.

Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded.

Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, as emergency teams carried out a mandatory evacuation.

"The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," Jewett said.

One storm-related death was reported by authorities in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a fallen tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.

In addition to powerful winds extending up to 185 miles (295 km) from its center, Hermine was expected to unleash a dangerous storm surge in the Hampton Roads area of tidewater Virginia, where flooding could become 3 to 5 feet deep, the NHC warned.

The storm also could douse several southeastern and mid-Atlantic states with up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain through Sunday, the agency said.

New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides.

In Florida, concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battled an outbreak of the Zika virus.</s>Sept 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. East Coast faces a potential mix of dangerously high winds and heavy rains over the long holiday weekend as Tropical Storm Hermine plowed up the Atlantic Coast on Saturday, leaving a path of destruction in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Tropical storm and flooding watches and warnings were in effect along the Atlantic seaboard from South Carolina north to Rhode Island as the potentially life-threatening storm moved along a stretch inhabited by tens of millions of Americans.

"Hermine not only threatens to foil weekend getaways at the beach, but has the potential to cause damage in some communities and pose risk to the lives of those who venture in the surf or on the seas," said Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist, on Accuweather.com.

The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The threat of severe weather caused officials in Atlantic City to cancel concerts over the weekend and beaches to close in several coastal communities.

Labor Day weekend plans for thousands of vacationers who were headed to popular beach spots along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry.

"We'll probably stay inside watching movies or going to the movie theater," Joan Whalen told an ABC affiliate in Virginia after canceling plans to head to the beach for the weekend.

Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.

As of 5 a.m. EDT, the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was about 60 miles (95 km) west-northwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where 60 mph (95 kmh) winds were reported, the hurricane center said.

Early Saturday morning, crews in Wilmington, North Carolina rescued several people who were sitting on top of their vehicle after a flood engulfed their street, photos from local media showed. At least one tornado was reported touching down in North Carolina on Saturday, causing at least one injury, local media reported.

On Friday the storm passed near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving some 51,000 power outages across the state, said state emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker.

Becker said localized flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of "downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars," along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes.

A total of about 150,000 households were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, utility companies reported on Saturday.

Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded.

Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, as emergency teams carried out a mandatory evacuation.

"The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," Jewett said.

One storm-related death was reported by authorities in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a fallen tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.

In addition to powerful winds extending up to 185 miles (295 km) from its center, Hermine was expected to unleash a dangerous storm surge in the Hampton Roads area of tidewater Virginia, where flooding could become 3 to 5 feet deep, the NHC warned.

The storm also could douse several southeastern and mid-Atlantic states with up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain through Sunday, the agency said.

New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides.

In Florida, concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battled an outbreak of the Zika virus. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Gareth Jones)</s>Hurricane Hermine dropped to a tropical storm but then regained strength Saturday as it drenched coastal North Carolina and Virginia on a path up the East Coast.

Hermine (her-MEEN) could approach hurricane intensity again Sunday as it spins over the Atlantic Ocean, lashing coastal areas as far north as Massachusetts through a soggy Labor Day weekend.

"Anyone along the U.S. East Coast needs to be paying close attention this weekend," said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, Hermine was centered just off North Carolina's Outer Banks, with top sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph), moving east-northeast at 15 mph (24 kph).

Tropical Storm Warnings were extended through New York City to Rhode Island, and a dangerous storm surge was expected from Virginia to New Jersey.

Hermine rose up over the Gulf of Mexico and became the first hurricane to hit Florida in more than a decade, wiping away beachside buildings, toppling trees onto homes and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity as it plowed onward to the Atlantic Coast.

About 300,000 homes were without electricity in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott said Saturday morning. Other outages included more than 107,000 without power in Georgia, 21,000 in South Carolina, 45,000 in North Carolina and 53,000 in Virginia.

"I want everybody to have their power. I want them to be able to take a hot shower," Scott said.

Governors Terry McAulliff of Virginia and Larry Hogan of Maryland declared states of emergency for coastal areas and warned of life-threatening storm surges.

In Florida's Big Bend area, the storm surge crumpled docks and washed out homes and businesses. A homeless man died from a falling tree south of Gainesville, Scott said.

Scott observed damage in the coastal communities of Cedar Key and Steinhatchee by helicopter, and pledged state help for damaged businesses.

Hermine spawned a small tornado over North Carolina's Outer Banks, knocking over two trailers and injuring four people.

In Virginia Beach, the storm forced Bruce Springsteen to move a Saturday night concert to Monday.

Further up the coast, Amtrak cancelled or altered some service as the storm approached. New Jersey officials ordered swimmers out of the surf. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo activated New York's Emergency Operations Center to begin preparations.

In Valdosta, Georgia, Hermine didn't cause much damage other than the holes in Nick Wykoff's roof from a burly pecan tree that was toppled in strong winds. He, his wife and their small children were unhurt.

The timing couldn't be worse for communities along the coast that count on Labor Day weekend festivals for revenue. In Savannah, Georgia, Bacon Fest was canceled Friday and the Craft Brew Fest had to move beer tents indoors.

Back in Florida, the surge at Dekle Beach damaged numerous homes and destroyed storage buildings and a 100-yard fishing pier. The area is about 60 miles southeast of St. Marks, where Hermine made landfall at 1:30 a.m.

An unnamed spring storm that hit the beach in 1993 killed 10 people who refused to evacuate. This time, only three residents stayed behind. All escaped injury.

In nearby Steinhatchee, Bobbi Pattison wore galoshes and was covered in black muck as she stood in her living room amid overturned furniture and an acrid smell. Tiny crabs darted around her floor.

"I had a hurricane cocktail party last night and God got even with me," she said with a chuckle.

Only wet sand and rubble remained where her bar once stood. Pattison and two neighbors managed to set upright a large wooden statue of a sea captain she had carved from wood that washed ashore in the 1993 storm.

The last hurricane to strike Florida was Wilma, a powerful Category 3 storm that arrived on Oct. 24, 2005. It swept across the Everglades and struck heavily populated south Florida, causing five deaths in the state and an estimated $23 billion in damage.

The Florida governor declared an emergency in 51 counties and said about 6,000 National Guardsmen stood ready to mobilize for the storm's aftermath. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina also declared emergencies.

Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro and Curt Anderson in Miami; Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Gary Fineout, Joe Reedy and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida; Tamara Lush in Tampa, Florida; Russ Bynum in Valdosta, Georgia, and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.</s>Tropical storm and flooding watches and warnings were in effect along the Atlantic seaboard from South Carolina north to Rhode Island as the potentially life-threatening storm moved along a stretch inhabited by tens of millions of Americans.

"Hermine not only threatens to foil weekend getaways at the beach, but has the potential to cause damage in some communities and pose risk to the lives of those who venture in the surf or on the seas," said Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist, on Accuweather.com.

The storm was projected to creep north along the Carolina coast, then gather strength after moving offshore into the Atlantic on Saturday morning, possibly reaching near-hurricane intensity by late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The threat of severe weather caused officials in Atlantic City to cancel concerts over the weekend and beaches to close in several coastal communities.

Labor Day weekend plans for thousands of vacationers who were headed to popular beach spots along the Atlantic seaboard were dampened after the storm battered Florida's $89 billion tourism industry.

"We’ll probably stay inside watching movies or going to the movie theater," Joan Whalen told an ABC affiliate in Virginia after canceling plans to head to the beach for the weekend.

Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in 11 years, swept ashore early on Friday near the Gulf shore town of St. Marks, 20 miles (30 km) south of the capital of Tallahassee, packing winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and churning up a devastating storm surge in coastal areas.

As of 2 a.m. EDT, the fourth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was about 115 miles (185 km) west of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, where 60 mph (95 kmh) winds were reported, the hurricane center said.

Early Saturday morning, crews in Wilmington, North Carolina rescued several people who were sitting on top of their vehicle after a flood engulfed their street, photos from local media showed. At least one tornado was reported touching down in North Carolina on Saturday, causing at least one injury, local media reported.

On Friday the storm passed near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving some 51,000 power outages across the state, said state emergency management spokesman Derrec Becker.

Becker said localized flooding hit low-lying areas across the state, and there were widespread reports of "downed power lines, downed trees, trees on cars and some flooded cars," along with isolated incidents of tree-damaged homes.

A total of about 150,000 households were without power in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, utility companies reported on Saturday.

Emergency declarations remained in effect for all or parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Overnight, crews in Pasco County, Florida, rescued more than a dozen people after their homes were flooded.

Richard Jewett, 68, was rescued from his home in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, as emergency teams carried out a mandatory evacuation.

"The canal started creeping up toward the house, and even though it wasn't high tide it looked like it was coming inside," Jewett said.

One storm-related death was reported by authorities in the northern Florida town of Ocala, where a fallen tree killed a homeless man sleeping in his tent.

In addition to powerful winds extending up to 185 miles (295 km) from its center, Hermine was expected to unleash a dangerous storm surge in the Hampton Roads area of tidewater Virginia, where flooding could become 3 to 5 feet deep, the NHC warned.

The storm also could douse several southeastern and mid-Atlantic states with up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain through Sunday, the agency said.

New Jersey, still mindful of devastation from superstorm Sandy in 2012, was on high alert as emergency officials advised residents to prepare for flooding, high winds and a surge of seawater.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday activated his state's emergency operations center and ordered officials to stockpile resources, including sandbags and generators.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said residents should avoid beach waters for fear of life-threatening riptides.

In Florida, concerns over the standing water in which mosquitoes breed intensified as the state battled an outbreak of the Zika virus.
Hermine, as a Category 1 storm, kills one person and leaves a quarter-million others without electricity during its trek through Florida. Now a tropical storm over North Carolina, Hermine should re-strengthen when it moves into the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow. Tropical storm warnings and watches are issued from Georgia to Rhode Island.