Hurricane Joaquin on Saturday started moving away from the Bahamas.
As of 5 a.m. ET, the Category 3 hurricane was moving northeast.. Hurricane conditions in the Bahamas are expected to gradually improve Saturday morning.
The storm is expected to weaken as it continues its northeast path. While Joaquin is no longer forecast to make landfall in the United States, swells generated by the storm have started to affect parts of the southeastern coast, the hurricane center said.The swells will spread northward throughout the weekend and may created life-threatening surf and rip current conditions
The risk to lives and property is still high, according to Accuweather meteorologists.
Further, strong onshore winds are expected to result in minor to moderate coastal flooding along the East Coast, according to the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile, a missing cargo ship with 33 crewmembers aboard has yet to be located by the U.S. Coast Guard. The vessel, a 735-foot ship called El Faro, was caught in the storm on Thursday, and reported flooding before losing contact. Twenty-eight of the crewmembers are American, and five are Polish nationals.
"We're going to go and try and save lives. We're going to push it to the operational limits as far as we can," Coast Guard Capt. Mark Fedor said, according to the Associated Press.
