Storm smacking the US’ East Coast will bring days of heavy rain and wind

DELAWARE - A slow-moving storm was working its way up the East Coast on the night of Oct 12, bringing drenching rain, gusty winds and probably enough coastal flooding to inundate waterfront property and cause beach erosion.

The most extreme weather will be at the coast, forecasters said, with the risk for significant coastal flooding highest in the mid-Atlantic.

The coasts of Delaware, southern New Jersey and the Virginia Tidewater, a low-lying area of eastern Virginia named for the tidal rivers that flow through it, are especially susceptible.

The storm impacted south-eastern states early on Oct 12. It continued up the East Coast affecting the mid-Atlantic from Oct 12 into Oct 13, and New England from late Oct 12 into Oct 14.

In addition to the high risk of flooding, the storm was expected to bring damaging winds up to 60mph at the coast, and up to 64kmh inland.

New York City was predicted to record 3.8cm to 7.6cm of rain from Oct 12 to 13. In eastern Connecticut and Long Island, 5cm to 7.6cm to three inches of rain is forecast.

The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said in a social media post that residents in New York City, Long Island and Westchester with aboveground power lines should “be prepared to wake up tomorrow without power”.

Coastal hazards and damaging winds in south-eastern New York will peak overnight on Oct 12 into the morning of Oct 13, the state agency added.

About 4,200 customers in New York and another about 3,800 in New Jersey were without power on the night of Oct 12.

In The Hole, a low-lying neighbourhood on the border between the city’s Brooklyn and Queens boroughs, where flooding is frequent, water began to fill potholes under a steady rain on the afternoon of Oct 12.

Mr Montas Exume, 64, was prepared for the nor’easter with two water pumps and a pair of rubber wading boots. He had also elevated a refrigerator atop a wooden table.

“If it doesn’t stop, the water is just going to rise and rise,” Mr Exume said, pointing to water that was already collecting outside his doorstep.

On the evening of Oct 12, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for New York City’s five boroughs and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties.

She said that utility companies had added more than 1,600 workers in the Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City, and that more than 7,100 workers were available statewide.

Forecasters said isolated wind gusts could reach 96.6kmh on Long Island and at the Jersey Shore from Oct 12 night to Oct 13, though they are not expected to reach the level of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, when wind speeds topped 112.6kmh to 128.7kmh.

In Suffolk County on Long Island, residents were bracing themselves for the worst.

In Center Moriches, the hamlet on the county’s south shore, Mr Conor Rogers rushed to a hardware store and bought heavy-duty stakes to hold down a pop-up tent in his backyard in anticipation of blasting winds.

“With this low-pressure system, this one’s going to come up on us,” said Mr Rogers, a carpenter.

He added that earlier on Oct 12, he had checked the ropes holding his fishing boat in place at its marina. He said he made indoor plans for his day off on Oct 12: “Eat frozen food and watch football.”

Coastal areas from South Carolina to New England were predicted to record 5cm to 10cm, or even 12.7cm, of rain in the coming days. Washington and Philadelphia are likely to record about 1.2cm to 2.5cm.

By the morning of Oct 12, a main street in downtown Georgetown, South Carolina, about 112km north of Charleston, was already flooded, and county officials were reporting many other flooded streets and stranded vehicles.

In North Carolina, near Surf City, the storm revealed part of the wreckage of a ship that ran aground on a sandbar in 1919, according to Mr Matthew Huddleston, a meteorologist at the CBS affiliate in Raleigh.

By the evening of Oct 12, several schools across Columbus County in North Carolina, along the state’s southern coast, announced plans for remote instruction or delayed starts on Oct 13 because of heavy rainfall and possible flooding.

New Jersey had already declared a state of emergency late on Oct 11; it will stay in effect into late Oct 13. NJ Transit said it had suspended parts of its rail service on the afternoon of Oct 12 until the end of Oct 13 because of expected heavy rain and winds.

In the borough of Avalon in New Jersey, a video showed large waves spilling over the Townsends Inlet Bridge. Another video showed submerged streets as water crept up the exterior steps of homes.

“Our beaches are taking a big hit,” Avalon Mayor John McCorristin said late in the afternoon of Oct 12. The waves were between 1.8m and 3m high, he said.

“We were already exposed since we’ve had a few nor’easters, and it’s a little ugly down there,” he said.

Road closures, power failures and airport delays are among the possible consequences of the storm, which is a nor’easter, forecasters said, because winds will be coming out of the north-east.

Four flights have been cancelled and close to 100 flights were delayed at Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Kennedy Airport, according to FlightAware, a company that tracks flight information.

The storm system formed off the coast of the southeastern United States on Oct 10, bringing rain to Florida on Oct 10 and drenching coastal Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia on Oct 11.

The Outer Banks in North Carolina, Long Island, New Jersey and eastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, could get the highest rainfall amounts and some of the strongest winds. NYTIMES