Tropical Storm Beryl sweeps into region
NANTUCKET -- The storm that spun past the mid-Atlantic coast bore down on Massachusetts last night, whipping wind and rain like a northeaster and previewing a season that could bring the first full-fledged hurricane to hit New England in 15 years.
Tropical Storm Beryl, which was predicted to land within 30 miles of Nantucket overnight, prompted a storm warning from Woods Hole to Plymouth, covering Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. It was expected to push tides 3 feet higher than normal and deliver 15-foot-high seas, 60-mile-per-hour winds, and 2 to 4 inches of rain.
As of 11 p.m., the storm was located 100 miles southwest of Nantucket and was moving northeast at 13 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service in Taunton. Meteorologists expected Beryl's center to move across Nantucket at about 3 a.m., with tropical storm-force winds of up to 50 miles per hour that began arriving about 9 p.m.
Meteorologists said the storm would weaken and leave the area by today, but New England's first brush with a tropical cyclone this year comes amid predictions of an above-average hurricane season and particular risk to New England.
``The last really big hurricane to have a direct strike in New England was the great hurricane of 1938, and the populations have of course grown immensely since then -- so we have a tremendous number of people living in a hurricane-prone area that have never experienced a hurricane," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. ``That's an awful lot of people you'd have to evacuate, without experience."
While few hurricanes have struck New England over the last century, the storms that have landed have been intense. An unnamed Category 3 storm in 1938 killed 600 people. Hurricane Bob in 1991 spawned 20-foot-high waves in Martha's Vineyard, downed hundreds of trees, and caused an estimated $6 million in damage.
Though the damage from Beryl was expected to be limited, emergency officials are considering it a trial run.
Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said the state activated its emergency operations center in Framingham and its regional office in Bridgewater, just as if there were a Category 5 hurricane barreling up the coast.
The American Red Cross on Cape Cod was on alert, and spokesman Hugh Drummond said the storm provided a chance to test the emergency response by calling volunteers.
Many in Beryl's expected path were not taking any chances. Fishermen tied boats to their docks, the Coast Guard warned recreational boaters not to go out, and business owners boarded up windows.
Falmouth police said they planned to have several extra officers on duty today, to help if the storm causes damage.
On Nantucket, Police Chief William Pittman said the island's marine department would keep staff on duty through the night, securing any boats that may come loose near the Town Pier. Lifeguards pulled four swimmers from rip currents.
David Abel and Peter Schworm of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed to this report. 