Rip currents threaten the East Coast as hurricanes Imelda and Humberto churn out to sea

As Hurricane Imelda barrels toward Bermuda as a Category 1 storm, the U.S.

As Hurricane Imelda barrels toward Bermuda as a Category 1 storm, the U.S. East Coast remains under threat for dangerous rip current conditions.

Imelda is expected to strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane as it approaches the small island. The storm is currently 395 miles west-southwest of Bermuda and is moving east-northeast at 21 mph, according to an 8 a.m. bulletin from the National Hurricane Center.

Simultaneously, Hurricane Humberto remains a Category 1 storm as it heads out to sea. It was about 280 miles north-northwest of Bermuda and moving northeast at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph as of a 5 a.m. update from the NHC.

On Tuesday, the two hurricanes were fewer than 500 miles apart — a distance that has not been seen in the satellite era, which began in 1966. When two storms have been this close together, historically, one has been a tropical storm.

Neither of the storms will make landfall in the United States, but their effects will be felt across a large swath of the country.