BOSTON — A powerful storm system continued its assault on the East Coast on Sunday as the nor’easter floods Northeast communities, swamping shorelines and cutting electricity to tens of thousands while forecasters warned of more tidal flooding with upcoming high tides.
Nor’easter floods Northeast communities
The slow-moving system, which authorities said killed a New York City public housing worker when a tree fell Saturday, was expected to linger through Sunday with heavy rain, strong winds and rough surf from New Jersey to New England.
By Sunday morning, the storm’s center sat just south of Long Island and east of northern New Jersey and was expected to loop in the region for roughly another day, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
The heaviest remaining rain was forecast Sunday from northern New Jersey through New York City and Long Island into southern New England. While the system was gradually weakening, Oravec said the risk of tidal flooding would persist through the morning and evening high-tide cycles. “The most impactful parts of the storm are likely going to be the high winds and the tidal flooding,” he said.
The nor’easter stirred memories of Superstorm Sandy, which caused more than $60 billion in damage across the eastern United States in 2012. Though this event has been far less destructive, forecasters noted it could be the first of several East Coast systems this fall tied to the ongoing El Niño pattern disrupting typical weather.
More than 130,000 customers lacked electricity across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. The widest outages were reported along the New Jersey shore, on New York’s Long Island and in coastal Connecticut. Downed trees across Long Island damaged homes and vehicles, blocked roads and took out numerous utility lines.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said response coordination centers in affected areas were operating at an enhanced posture, with teams on standby in New England in case power losses expanded.
Flooding on Saturday turned streets into waterways in parts of New Jersey and New York, where some residents kayaked through neighborhoods. Others headed to beaches seeking larger-than-normal surf. Emergency crews in Sea Bright, New Jersey, rescued a woman and her dog after their vehicle became trapped in rising water, according to local reports.
In Surf City, New Jersey, water entered a marina even after workers moved equipment to higher ground. Owner Kenny Formica said customers reported boats and Jet Skis missing or blown off lifts. Farther south in Norfolk, Virginia, floodwaters forced cars to push wakes along several roads.
Travel disruptions rippled across the region. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Boston Logan International Airport, and flooding severed highway access to North Carolina’s Hatteras Island. That closure stranded visitors and forced one couple to move wedding plans after most of their roughly 45 guests could not reach the island.
Julie Walker contributed reporting from New York. Coverage of other recent storms, including when Tropical Storm Nolo forms, Big Island under hurricane watch, can be found on The Trade Wind.
