Hurricane Lee was pounding Bermuda with high winds and dangerous surf early on Thursday as conditions deteriorated along much of the US east coast.
The monster hurricane is around 500 miles (nearly 800km) wide with winds reaching 100mph. Lee is moving north across the Atlantic at around 12mph, and is expected to gain speed through Saturday.
A hurricane watch spanned the US-Canada border including parts of New England and up into Nova Scotia. The Category 2 storm expected to make landfall in Maine or Nova Scotia this weekend.
The center of Lee will pass west of Bermuda into tonight, approach the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada on Friday and Saturday, and move across Atlantic Canada on Saturday night and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center reported.
Forecasters warned of storm surge and tide leading to coastal and inland flooding. If peak storm surge occurs at high tide, parts of Cape Cod could see up to 4ft of flooding while Boston Harbor could experience up to 3ft.
And it won’t just be in New England as parts of New York are also under threat. Montauk and the Long Island Sound could see up to 3ft of flooding along with Flushing in Queens, while the Rockaways could see 2ft.