Tropical Storm Ophelia barrels across North Carolina with heavy rain and strong winds

Tropical Storm Ophelia is barreling across eastern North Carolina, bringing high gusts, coastal flooding and life-threatening rip currents northward to New Jersey over the weekend.

Around 6:15 a.m. ET, Ophelia made landfall near Emerald Isle, N.C., with maximum winds of 70 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Heading northward, the storm will move across eastern North Carolina over to southeastern Virginia then the Delmarva Peninsula into Sunday.

In the center's latest advisory from 11 a.m. ET, the storm was generating 50 mph winds. Forecasters said 3-5 inches of rainfall is expected across parts of eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia into Saturday night. Ophelia is forecast to produce as much as 8 inches of rain in some areas of the region.

Portions of the Mid-Atlantic are forecast to get 2-4 inches of rainfall into Sunday, which could create flash, urban and small stream flooding in parts of North Carolina to New Jersey, forecasters said.

New York through southern New England could get 1-3 inches through Monday morning.

On Friday, the governors of Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency.

Concern for storm surges grow in parts of Virginia

A tropical storm warning was in effect from east of Cape Lookout, N.C., to Fenwick Island, Del. This included Albemarle and Pamlico sounds in North Carolina, the Tidal Potomac River south of Cobb Island, Md., and Chesapeake Bay south of North Beach, Md.

The region stretching from Ocracoke Inlet, N.C., to Chincoteague, Va., in Chesapeake Bay south of Colonial Beach, Va., and the Neuse and Pamlico rivers was under a storm surge warning, meaning there is threat of rising water moving inland from the coastline over the next 36 hours.

The remainder of Pamlico and Albemarle sounds were under a storm surge watch, meaning the threat of rising water could appear over the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the Neuse and Bay rivers and the Pamlico and Pungo rivers are expected to see floodwaters rise between 3 and 5 feet. The surge could also cause flooding of 2 to 4 feet in the lower Chesapeake Bay and 1 to 3 feet farther up the bay.

The threat of storm surges comes as floods become more frequent and severe in most of the U.S. due to more extreme precipitation and sea level rise from climate change.

NPR's Emma Bowman contributed reporting.