US on alert as hurricane gains strength

Hurricane Joaquin  seen approaching the Bahamas in this satellite image  on Wednesday night. Photo: Reuters/NOAA
Hurricane Joaquin  seen approaching the Bahamas in this satellite image on Wednesday night. Photo: Reuters/NOAA

Hurricane Joaquin is strengthening in the Atlantic and expected to become a major hurricane, the US National Hurricane Center says, although not all forecast models agreed if it would make landfall in the United States.

The warnings came as the northeastern US faced a pounding rainstorm that flooded streets and snarled travel from Washington to Boston.

Joaquin, the third hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season, intensified into a Category 2 on a scale of 1 through 5, with maximum sustained winds of 165kmh by Wednesday night (local time). It was 125km east-northeast of the central Bahamas and continues to strengthen, the hurricane centre said.

The governors of New York and Connecticut, and emergency-management officials in New Jersey, states all hard hit by 2012's Superstorm Sandy and already facing heavy rains unrelated to Joaquin on Wednesday, warned residents to begin preparations for a possible severe storm.

"Our state has seen the damage that extreme weather can cause time and time again," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "Take precautions for more heavy storms in the coming days."

Joaquin is expected to move near or over parts of the central Bahamas on Wednesday night and Thursday, the centre said.

"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Joaquin is expected to become a major hurricane during the next 24 hours," it said.

A major hurricane is considered to be one with winds of at least 179kmh, the threshold for Category 3 of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, where Category 5 is the most severe.

A complicated atmospheric pattern has made Joaquin particularly difficult to track, according to Weather Channel forecasters, who said it was too soon to determine what impact Joaquin could have on the US East Coast starting this weekend.

The last hurricane to make landfall in the continental US was Arthur, which hit North Carolina as a Category 2 storm in July 2014, bringing high winds, driving rain and storm surges up the East Coast.

In October 2012, Sandy slammed into the New York metropolitan area, killing more than 120 people and causing some $US70 billion in property damage, mainly in New York and New Jersey.

White House spokesman Joshua Earnest said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was monitoring the storm and preparing for a possible hit.

Joaquin could raise tides up to 1.5m above normal, create dangerous waves and bring up to 50cm of rain over San Salvador and Rum Cay in the Bahamas, the hurricane centre said.

Joaquin-generated swells in the Bahamas will begin to affect parts of the US southeastern coast by Thursday. Swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, it said.

The central Bahamas and northwestern Bahamas are now under a hurricane warning, with hurricane watches in place for Bimini. 

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