New York, Sep 26 (EFE).- A powerful coastal storm caused widespread flooding along the US Northeast on Saturday, as heavy rain, strong winds and high surf coincided with high tides, leaving millions of people under weather alerts from North Carolina to Massachusetts.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said the low-pressure system was spinning off the northern Mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts, with conditions expected to worsen through Sunday as periods of moderate to heavy rain and coastal flooding continued.
“Major coastal flooding is expected along the Mid-Atlantic coast during several high tide cycles, influenced by the full moon,” the NWS warned, urging residents in low-lying coastal areas to prepare for inundated roads and flooding affecting homes and businesses.
The agency also warned that large breaking waves would continue to generate dangerous rip currents, beach erosion, road closures and property damage from the Carolinas through southern New England into Monday.
Flooding, outages and travel disruption
In Atlantic City, New Jersey, authorities reported sea levels comparable to those recorded during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. In New York City, local media showed floodwaters covering parts of the Hudson River waterfront in Manhattan.
New York City Emergency Management urged residents living in basement apartments to move to higher floors before Sunday morning and advised the public to avoid unnecessary travel while emergency crews responded to flooded streets and fallen trees.
City authorities said they had received about 640 reports of fallen or damaged trees. A 56-year-old employee of the city’s public housing agency was killed in a Brooklyn parking lot after being struck by a falling tree.
The storm also disrupted air travel nationwide. FlightAware reported about 2,700 flight delays and 400 cancellations on Saturday, with Boston Logan International Airport experiencing the greatest impact.
By Saturday night, roughly 80,000 homes across the Northeast were without electricity, including nearly 30,000 in the New York metropolitan area, according to power outage monitoring services. EFE
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