A powerful nor’easter hit the north-eastern United States, killing one person and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses, while hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands more delayed, amid warnings of flooding, road closures and strong winds in several major cities.
Power cuts and death reported in Brooklyn
More than 100,000 power outages were recorded on Saturday in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Later, more than 73,000 homes and commercial properties remained without electricity as severe weather continued to affect the region. US media reported that a 56-year-old man was killed in Brooklyn after strong winds brought a tree down on him.
The affected areas extended to major cities including New York, Boston and Philadelphia, with disruption expected to continue through Monday. The US National Weather Service said the storm would bring heavy rain, strong winds, storm surges and rip currents to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.
Warnings of coastal flooding and dangerous winds
It also warned of significant coastal flooding during upcoming high-tide cycles, coinciding with the full moon over the weekend. New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned that the storm was moving towards the coastal areas of New York City and Long Island, stressing that approaching the water during the storm posed a risk to life.
The governors of New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency in counties expected to face the storm’s strongest impacts, while Connecticut activated its emergency operations centre to deal with the consequences. In aviation, data from FlightAware, a website that tracks flight movements, showed that around 445 flights to and from US airports had been cancelled, while another 3,016 were delayed.
This included 130 cancellations at Boston’s Logan Airport alone. Major airlines including JetBlue, United and American Airlines issued alerts allowing passengers to change their bookings without paying additional fees, in an effort to deal with schedule disruption caused by the storm.
The strength of the winds also prompted the United Nations to ask media outlets covering General Assembly meetings to remove broadcasting equipment from the vicinity of its headquarters in New York. Several cultural and music events in New York and Maryland were cancelled, while an AC/DC concert in New Jersey was postponed.
Nor’easters are weather phenomena that hit the eastern coast of the United States. They are most common from autumn to early spring and are often accompanied by heavy rain or snow and strong winds.
