On Saturday morning, the storm hit North Carolina, bringing squally winds, torrential rains, and storm waves, US broadcaster reported. The state's Emerald Isle suffered rainfall from Ophelia's core, but the storm's impact stretched far beyond the area, causing flooding in the North Carolina city of Washington, as well as Sea Isle City and Stone Harbor cities of New Jersey.
By the end of the day on Saturday, Ophelia was downgraded from tropical storm to tropical depression. Another news outlet reported that despite the downgrade, flooding was still expected on the Atlantic coast, especially around high tide overnight into Sunday. Around 3,000 households in North Carolina and 11,000 in Virginia were left without power on Saturday night.
"We are expecting Ophelia to continue moving northward ... This is going to be a widespread heavy rainfall continuing through the day today and even into tomorrow," National Hurricane Center (NHC) director Michael Brennan said on Youtube in a midday update on Saturday.
According to the NHC updates, as of 03:00 GMT, the storm was continuing to move north at the speed of 8 mph with gusts of wind reaching 35 mph as opposed to 65 mph at the moment it hit North Carolina.