As Hurricane Erin churns hundreds of miles offshore, coastal towns across the Northeast are feeling the storm’s effects, even without a direct hit.

At Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island, lifeguards flew red flags and turned swimmers away Wednesday as dangerous surf and rip currents made the water unsafe.

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Vacationers still turned out, some bundled in sweatshirts, hoping to make the most of a windy, chilly day by the ocean.

“What do I make of it? It’s horrible. I’m freezing,” said Abby Jennings of Westchester, New York. “I don’t know why [my husband] over there insisted that we come to the beach.”

Jennings and her husband have been in Westerly since the weekend.

“This is the first time I’ve ever not

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