Hurricane Erin could bring destruction to East Coast despite not making landfall

(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Erin may not make landfall, but it still could have a devastating consequences for East Coast residents.

The first hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season is forecast to cause rough surf, large waves and life-threatening rip currents for much of the East Coast despite churning northward several hundred miles offshore.

Average sea levels for many East Coast communities are now about a half foot higher today than they were just a few decades ago, climate scientists say, intensifying coastal erosion along the U.S. coastline.

Some of the biggest waves from Erin could occur in the evening during high tide, Kimberly McKenna, interim executive director of the Coastal Research Center at Stockton University in New Jersey, told ABC News. But states will have to “wait and see”