国际英语新闻:Tropical Storm Hermine batters U.S. East Coast through weekend

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Tropical Storm Hermine on Saturday moved towards U.S. mid-Atlantic and northeastern states after slamming U.S. southern state of Florida, putting millions of people along the U.S. East Coast under tropical storm.

According to weather forecasts, Hermine, which had turned into a hurricane-like storm with winds up to 70 mph, would arrive off the New Jersey coast late Sunday and into Monday after causing two deaths, severe property damages from Florida to Virginia on Friday.

So far, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had already declared a state of emergency in three coastal counties, and Governor Jack Markell of Delaware had also issued a state of emergency in one county.

"The National Weather Service is forecasting Tropical Storm Hermine will impact the entire New Jersey shoreline," said the New Jersey governor's office in a statement, adding that Hermine was predicted to bring "tropical storm force winds, very heavy and sustained rain, as well as moderate to major coastal flooding with heavy surf and beach erosion."

As of late Friday, about 30 million people along the U.S. East Coast were under tropical storm watches and warnings through the weekend.

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Hermine was expected to remain a "dangerous cyclone through 5 days."