A powerful nor’easter continued to lash parts of the U.S. East Coast on Sunday, after its arrival earlier in the weekend brought a fierce combination of heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous waves to multiple states in its path.
In coastal sections of New York and New Jersey, the storm triggered such intense flooding that residents were seen paddling through their neighborhoods on kayaks and canoes, past parked cars that had become partially or nearly submerged in water. Flood warnings remained in effect for large stretches of the coast, as meteorologists warned that the worst impacts of the storm may still be ahead for some communities.
So far, the nor’easter has caused at least one death in Brooklyn, New York, where officials said 56-year-old New York City Housing Department employee Leighton Brown was fatally hit by a falling tree. A swimmer who had been missing on Saturday afternoon was later found “alive and well,” state police said. They believed the man disappeared after he was seen swimming at a Fire Island beach, but he contacted police himself after learning of their search for him through news coverage.
Tens of thousands across the Northeast didn’t have power Sunday morning, including more than 40,000 in New York and around 30,000 in Connecticut, according to the utility tracker PowerOutage.us.
Imminent landfall in Sunday’s forecast
Conditions could deteriorate further on Sunday when the storm, which had been crawling along the northeastern coastline over the Atlantic Ocean, turns inward from its position offshore and travels directly over New Jersey. Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill have declared states of emergency for certain regions that have and will likely continue to see the most serious effects of the nor’easter before it eventually dissipates this coming week.
In its latest forecast, the National Weather Service warned that the nor’easter was expected to dump more rain on mid-Atlantic and northeastern states through Monday night, potentially causing additional bouts of flooding. Rough surf, including rip currents, was also likely to imperil beachgoers as far south as the Carolinas, while wind gusts of up to 50 mph could tear through a block of the tristate area from New Jersey to Long Island, according to the forecast.
Swirling winds produced by the storm could knock out additional power lines and topple more trees, the weather service said, adding that excessive rainfall could potentially also cause some flooding in inland sections of New Jersey all the way up to New England. The agency said rain would primarily lead to localized flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, small streams and narrow canyons facing the greatest risks of inundation.
The New York City area could see another 1 or 2 inches of rain through Sunday night, while water levels along the shores of New Jersey and Delaware may swell as much as 12 feet, said CBS News meteorologist Andrew Kozak, adding that bands of heavy rain could persist in parts of Long Island and southern Connecticut, too.
Farther north, sections of New England, including Boston, would likely receive between 2 and 4 more inches of rain, although up to 7 inches was possible, he said.
Watching high tide
The weather service had urged people along the eastern seaboard to brace for major coastal damage as the nor’easter moved in on Friday, writing in an advisory that “repeated rounds of flooding” were expected throughout the weekend, especially around high tide.
“Prepare immediately for significant inundation in low-lying areas near the shore, including roads under water and impacts to homes and businesses,” the advisory read.
The weather service said the storm would coincide with at least one more high tide cycle on Sunday morning. Kozak noted that the tide posed flooding threats to parts of coastal New York, like areas around Jamaica Bay, bordering the city’s Brooklyn and Queens boroughs, and those near lower New York Harbor. He also said New Jersey and Delaware could see moderate tidal flooding, which should ease as the nor’easter weakens.
Dozens of river, creek, stream and coastal flooding incidents, as well as damaging wind incidents, were reported from North Carolina to New York between Friday and Saturday, according to the weather service. As of Saturday, the strongest wind gusts were recorded in Surf City, New Jersey, and Montauk Point, New York, where they respectively approached 74 and 81 mph — mirroring those of a low-grade hurricane.
