Hurricane Lee to hit US TODAY with 80mph winds and 20ft waves: Maine declares state of

Hurricane Lee is racing towards New England, bringing 20ft waves, 85mph winds and triggering warnings across Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Canada amid fears of deadly storm surges and tornados. 

The storm tore through the Caribbean overnight, smashing the Dominican Republic and Bermuda before barreling north with New England in its sights. 

It will make landfall in Canada but will trigger enormous waves in much of coastal New England on its way.

In an announcement this morning, the National Hurricane Center said tropical storm conditions will begin in the US this afternoon. 

In the Hamptons, waterfront homeowners are racing to secure their houses before the storm arrives. 

DailyMail.com captured many rushing to pad their homes with sand on Friday as the storm approached. 

One property on stilts on Dune Road, a notoriously expensive street, appeared to be on a particularly precarious perch. 

Race against Lee: Workers rush to a house on stilts on Long Island’s Dune Road in Hampton Bays

In Maine, the Governor has issued a hurricane warning for the first time in 15 years while the National Guard in Long Island are poised to sandbag homes and respond to emergencies. 

In New Jersey, anyone who goes swimming will be fined up to $200 while beach warnings are in place. 

After a deluge of rain, flooding, sinkholes and tornadoes this week, New England is about to face Hurricane Lee.

As the Category 1 system impacted Bermuda, Maine was under its first hurricane watch in 15 years and a state of emergency declared Thursday by Gov. Janet Mills.

The water-logged region prepared for 20-foot (6-meter) waves offshore and wind gusts up to 80 mph (129 kph), along with more rain.

Coastal houses on Long Island are among those most at risk. Workers were today trying to secure one property before the storm arrives

New satellite images released this morning by the NOAA shows Hurricane Lee racing towards the East Coast

There are fears for many of Long Island’s coastal homes, which are battered during hurricane season 

The house sits on a tiny stretch of land between Shinnecock Bay and the Atlantic 

Davis & Tripp Marina and Boat Yard crews pull a sailboat named Hurricane from the waters of Padanaram Harbor in Dartmouth, Massachusetts

A boat’s hull is cleaned after it was pulled out of the water in advance of Hurricane Lee at York Harbor Marine, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in York, Maine

Surfers and others spend a day at Rockaway Beach as impact from Hurricane Lee delvers large surf and rip tides to much of the Northeast on September 14, 2023 in New York City

The hurricane watch applied to eastern Maine, while the rest of the state and an area extending south through Massachusetts was under a tropical storm warning.

Powerful winds and coastal flooding were expected to arrive Friday afternoon in southern New England and spread north.

Although Lee did not contribute to the flooding that hit New England earlier in the week, it threatened to exacerbate conditions in a region that is already waterlogged.

The Coast Guard and emergency management agencies warned New England residents to be prepared, and utility companies brought in reinforcements to deal with any power outages. 

At Boothbay Harbor Marina in Maine, the community came together to remove boats from the water to keep them out of harm’s way.

 ‘It´s a batten-down-the-hatches kind of day,’ owner Kim Gillies said Thursday.

Surfers spend a day at Rockaway Beach as impact from Hurricane Lee delvers large surf and rip tides to much of the Northeast on September 14, 2023 in New York City. Anyone in the water in New Jersey from Friday will be fined