Hurricane Ernesto hits Bermuda, brings danger to US beaches

 Storm tracker: Hurricane Ernesto hits Bermuda, brings danger to US beaches. Hurricane Ernesto's eye was hundreds of miles from the U.S. on Saturday as it made landfall on Bermuda, but the storm will bring weekend danger to East Coast beaches, according to rip current and high surf warnings

Over 1 million people were under high surf advisories, while another nearly 10 million had statements issued for rip currents, according to the National Weather Service. (Rip currents can prove a deadly hazard for people far away from the center of a hurricane.

In North Carolina, at least one coastal house collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean in the Outer Banks, local fire and rescue crew showed in a video posted Friday evening. A number of other homes are at risk of collapse as well from Ernesto, officials said.

“Ocean conditions will be dangerous for swimming due to surf height and scattered debris now,” the Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue said in a social media post. “Please be cautious.”

As far north as New York City, officials closed beaches in Brooklyn and Queens for the weekend due to dangerous rip currents from Ernesto. New Jersey officials also warned of dangerous and life-threatening rip currents along the Jersey Shore.

Hurricane Ernesto is expected to continue buffeting Bermuda with heavy rains and winds Saturday as the storm slowly begins its northward path toward Canada, the National Hurricane Center said.

Bermuda was under a hurricane warning Saturday morning as the storm is expected to produce six to nine inches of rainfall there, possibly resulting in life-threatening flash flooding, the center said. The large, slow-moving storm is expected to continue bringing wind and rain to the island into Saturday evening, the center said.