While Esther was becoming a powerful hurricane over the open Atlantic, the San Juan Weather Bureau office issued a small craft advisory for the Leeward Islands, United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Because of uncertainty about the storm's future path, the Weather Bureau advised residents along the east coast of the United States to closely follow the storm. The agency later issued a hurricane watch from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Norfolk, Virginia on September 18.
