Strong storm knocks out power, grounds planes in Northeast US | Today’s news
A powerful nor’easter knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the US Northeast, grounded hundreds of flights and prompted state leaders to declare a state of emergency. Pop star Ed Sheeran’s two weekend concerts at Gillette Stadium near Boston have been canceled as a precaution.
Strong winds lashed the coast from Delaware to Massachusetts on Saturday, and conditions in New York were expected to worsen as the day wore on, said Bob Oravec, chief forecaster at the U.S. Weather Forecast Center.
Storm surges are expected to raise ocean levels by three feet along the coasts of New Jersey and New York, and even higher across New England. Saturday night’s full moon will make matters worse by increasing the tides even more.
“The worst effects are tonight into Sunday morning anywhere from southern New England west through Long Island toward New York,” Oravec said. “The biggest impact of flooding will be coastal flooding.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York and surrounding areas on Friday as the storm unfolded, and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill did the same for her state. From Massachusetts to Maryland, 101,674 homes and businesses were without power as of 1:15 p.m., with areas in Queens, Long Island and along the New Jersey coast among the hardest hit, according to Poweroutage.com. Trees are particularly vulnerable because they still have their leaves on, which could lead to falling branches that bring down more power lines.
Meanwhile, workers in New York were bracing for uprooted trees and clogged retention basins in anticipation of flooding, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. The rainfall forecast for the city doubled to an estimated six inches Saturday, causing coastal flooding and knocking out power for about 22,000 customers, Hochul said at a news conference Saturday morning.
“We expect this weather pattern to continue and even strengthen over the next day,” Hochul said. “It could, and has, downed trees and power lines and caused power outages.”
The Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park and the All Things Go NYC music and culture festival have also been cancelled.
In New Jersey, the storm flooded some coastal and back bays, making them impassable, and officials urged residents not to drive through them. In a social media post Saturday, Sherrill said conditions had temporarily eased in some parts of the state, but were expected to worsen again later in the day.
Across the United States, 425 flights were canceled, mostly from Boston’s Logan International Airport and other areas in Massachusetts, FlightAware reported. At least 15 flights were also canceled from New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Ground stops and delays were likely in Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, as well as John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said on its website.
New Jersey Transit has suspended its River Line light rail service along the Delaware between the Florence and Cass Street stations south of Trenton. The Long Island Rail Road suspended service on the Long Beach branch due to Saturday’s flooding. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has suspended most of its commuter ferries in and around Boston Harbor.
The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings and watches, including for New York City, where it said tides could be up to three feet higher than normal at the Battery at the southern end of Manhattan, and waves as high as 12 feet could hit shorelines in Brooklyn and Queens by Sunday. From the New England coast through the New Jersey coast, wind gusts can reach 60 miles per hour.
Oravec said the storm will remain intense in New York and New England through Sunday, but will weaken by Monday morning, when commuters will have to return to the office.
With help from Lauren Rosenthal, Sarah Rabil, Brooke Sutherland, Greg Ryan and María Paula Mijares Torres.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
