Hurricane Imelda strengthens, churning up powerful waves along East Coast as it closes in on Bermuda

Hurricane Imelda is churning up dangerous surf, rip currents, coastal flooding and beach erosion along the United States' East Coast as it races toward Bermuda Wednesday.

Bermuda is under a hurricane warning with the core of Imelda's wind and rain expected to make a direct hit or slide just south of the islands late Wednesday. This after Hurricane Humberto brushed by the archipelago Tuesday. The once-mighty Humberto has since deteriorated, losing its tropical status Wednesday morning as it combined with a front swinging over the ocean.

Imelda was a Category 2 hurricane late Wednesday morning with sustained winds of 100 mph and was centered 340 miles west-southwest of Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center. The worst impacts are expected Wednesday night.

Imelda and Humberto were unusually close Tuesday, around 450 miles apart, one of the 10-closest pairs of named Atlantic storms since the use of satellites began in 1966, according to hurricane expert Michael Lowry.

Imelda threatens Bermuda

B

ermuda is a sitting duck in the path of a hurricane that could deliver a punishing blow this week, even for the seasoned and storm-tested islands.

Imelda is expected to track much closer to Bermuda than Humberto, which passed well west of the islands as a large hurricane Tuesday, but still brought rain, gusty winds and dangerous surf there.

Imelda could even come close enough to Bermuda to make landfall Wednesday night. The close pass means the archipelago could experience damaging sustained winds of more than 74 mph and higher gusts along with potential flash flooding Wednesday into Thursday.

Large and damaging waves will also pound Bermuda's shores.

A hazardous pair

Having two potent storms active for days in the western Atlantic Ocean has proved to be destructive and deadly.

The storm fueled flooding rain in Cuba, where two people were killed, according to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. One of those killed was a 60-year-old man who died when his home collapsed in a landslide caused by heavy rain, according to the Associated Press.

Despite never making landfall in the US, Imelda was deadly there, too. A 51-year-old man drowned in Volusia County, Florida, after being swept into the ocean by rip currents, the sheriff's office said.

In North Carolina's Outer Banks, at least six homes collapsed into the ocean, the National Park Service said. Coastal erosion from previous storms, combined with the twin power of Imelda and Humberto, left little buffer between these homes and the unrelenting surf.

The homes, which had been teetering on stilts as waves battered their support structure, were unoccupied when they fell, the park service said on Facebook, warning of the presence of potentially hazardous debris.

Coastal flooding is possible from Florida's Space Coast to North Carolina's Outer Banks Wednesday, where onshore winds could push water 1 to 2 feet above normally dry ground at high tide.