Nor’easter storm knocks out power, snarls travel across US East Coast

NEW YORK - An early-season nor’easter swept across the US East Coast, killing at least one person as it triggered power outages and travel delays, while across the continent a massive storm wreaked havoc on Alaska. 

The eastern storm will reach its peak before winding down overnight, said senior branch forecaster Frank Pereira at the US Weather Prediction Centre. A gust of 69kph was recorded in Midtown Manhattan, while 92kph was clocked at Eatons Neck on the north shore of Long Island. 

A 76-year-old Brooklyn resident was killed when a solar panel was blown off a carport, striking her in the head, the New York Daily News reported, citing police and the city buildings department.

“Today should be the worst of the last of it,” Mr Pereira said, noting that winds and rain will continue through the day from the Mid-Atlantic states into New England. 

The storm, more typical of a large winter system, caused coastal flooding and prompted high wind warnings and advisories stretching from Massachusetts to North Carolina. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared an emergency for New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. New Jersey also issued a similar declaration. 

New York’s Christopher Columbus parade was cancelled and organisers said it won’t be rescheduled, according to Columbus Citizens Foundation.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority banned empty trailer trucks from city bridges and tunnels, including the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges, through 6pm local time.

As of midday on Oct 13, there were more than 42,000 customers without power from Massachusetts to South Carolina, according to PowerOutage.com. At the same time, 456 flights, mainly out of Boston, with additional 148 from LaGuardia in New York, were canceled, FlightAware said. On top of that, 3,625 were delayed. 

New Jersey Transit suspended Oct 13 train service on its North Jersey Coast Line between Bay Head and Long Branch and between Atlantic City and Philadelphia, the agency said on its website. Several bus lines were also halted. There were delays on the Montclair-Boonton line because of a downed tree across the tracks. 

Moderate flooding is forecast for New York’s Battery, at Manhattan’s southern tip, at 2pm when high tide arrives. The water will be 79cm higher than Oct 12 morning’s peak. Major or near-major flooding has also been recorded at coastal spots such as New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina.

Various scenes of flooded streets across the region have been appearing on social media since Oct 12. In Georges Bank, about 161km east of Boston in the Atlantic, waves were reaching nearly 6m high, according to the US National Data Buoy Centre. At the entrance of New York Harbour they reached 4m. 

The worst of the rains fell in South Carolina, where 15-20cm fell around Myrtle Beach, Mr Pereira said. 

As the East Coast was buffeted by the nor’easter, Alaska was hit by a ferocious storm that toppled homes into the ocean, set high-tide records at the mouth of the Kuskokwim River, and saw strong wind gusts in the Yukon Delta, said Dr Christopher Cox, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fairbanks.

“It was a significant storm,” Dr Cox said. “It took a very poor track. It knocked homes off pilings and they were pushed into the river and into the sea.” 

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy declared a disaster in the hardest hit areas and at least 34 people have been rescued in Kwigillingok and Kipnuk, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Troopers were investigating reports there may be others missing.

The storm has since moved on over the Beaufort Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean. BLOOMBERG