Tropical storm Ophelia made landfall on Saturday near Emerald Isle, in North Carolina (USA), causing heavy rains, strong winds, and leaving thousands of homes without electricity.
The storm reached Emerald Isle with winds of 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour) around 6:15 local time (10:15 GMT), but is expected to weaken as it moves north along the US East Coast throughout Saturday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
By 11:00 local time (15:00 GMT), the winds had already weakened and were blowing at a force of 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour), according to the National Hurricane Center.
Although the winds weakened, the storm is causing heavy rains in a wide range of states in the US, including Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.
According to the specialized website PowerOutage, around 70,000 homes and businesses were without electricity on Saturday morning, although a few hours later, at 13:30 local time (17:30 GMT), that number had decreased to 30,000.
The threat of rain also led to the postponement of two Major League Baseball games scheduled for Saturday.