Hurricane Erin leaves two swimmers dead off US coast

Hurricane Erin never made landfall but has left behind rough ocean conditions along the US East Coast.

At least two people died after they had been swimming in the heavy current, and a search continued on Monday for a man who was missing after his boat capsized.

Beaches were beginning to reopen on Friday after Erin, twice the size of an average hurricane, had weakened into a post-tropical cyclone far from land, but was still capable of causing life-threatening surf and rip currents, the National Hurricane Center in Miami had said. Erin's outer bands had already brushed North Carolina, though it caused no widespread damage.

Still, North Carolina's barrier islands took a beating last week from Erin's strong winds and swells, leading to breached sand dunes, localised flooding and closures.

In Massachusetts, a team of police and US Coast Guard members were resuming their search on Monday for a man in his 50s who was missing after a boat capsised off of Salisbury Beach on Saturday. The other person in the boat was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Despite challenging weather and sea conditions, the team performed sonar scans, dives, surface and aerial patrols on Sunday, the state police said in a news release. In Maine, a man was rescued Saturday after his sailboat capsized in high surf in York Harbor.

In New Hampshire, authorities are investigating the death of a 17-year-old boy who had been swimming with family members off of Hampton Beach on Sunday night.

Witnesses said he was pulled away by a strong ocean current and his father unsuccessfully tried to rescue him. Lifeguards brought both to shore and began lifesaving efforts on the teen, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The father was treated there.

A man drowned on Saturday after being caught in a strong rip current off the New York coast, at Sailors Haven in the Fire Island Natoinal Seashore in Suffolk County, authorities said. Ishmoile Mohammed, 59, was visiting from South Carolina.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Juliette formed ion Monday in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of kilometres from Mexico's Baja California peninsula as Tropical Storm Fernand churned in the Atlantic Ocean.

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for either storm, the hurricane centre said.

In the Atlantic basin, Fernand formed on Saturday but also was far from land and forecast to remain over open ocean waters.

The storm was expected to turn more to the northeast as it moves away from Bermuda. Forecasters said it would begin weakening and could become a post-tropical cyclone on Wednesday before dissipating on Thursday.