East Coast storm death toll climbs to five as thousands left without power: Live
Major storm unleashed between two and four inches of rainfall across the East Coast
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Your support makes all the difference.At least five people died after dangerous flooding pounded New England.
A 72-year-old woman, named as Nancy Morrow, died in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, on Sunday after becoming trapped as her car was fully submerged in water, officials said.
Another 73-year-old man, identified as Allan “Ray “ Nolt, in Pennsylvania was also killed after his vehicle became submerged in high water on Monday, according to the coroner’s office in Lancaster County.
Two more people, including a 40-year-old in Maine man whom police have not yet named, and an 89-year-old man in Massachusetts, were killed by fallen trees after the storm caused strong winds.
Meanwhile, a fifth person died in New York when their vehicle went around a barricade on a flooded road and was swept into the Catskill Creek, the Times Union reported.
It comes after 58 million Americans were put under flood warnings yesterday amid a major storm on the East Coast.
The storm unleashed between two and four inches of rainfall across the region within a 24-hour period, triggering flooding that engulfed cars, trapped drivers on inundated roadways in New Jersey and Connecticut, and prompted water rescues in New Hampshire and Maine.
The severe weather also left more than 620,000 homes and businesses in the region without power, according to poweroutage.us. Most of the power outages were reported in Maine, where 432,000 people remained in the dark as of Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday morning, the storm moved into Canada, but the National Weather Service warned its impact will “linger,” with snow in parts of New York and Pennsylvania, as well as parts of the Great Lakes and Appalachians, while areas with higher river levels were still experiencing flooding.
New York, Boston airports hit by delays and cancellations amid holiday travel
Airports serving the New York City and Boston areas are seeing delays and cancellations as severe weather continues to hit the northeastern United States.
LaGuardia Airport is first in the country for cancelled flights as of Monday morning, with at least 81 flights cancelled and 38 delayed, FlightAware reports.
Boston’s Logan International Airport is a close second, with 68 cancelled and 53 delayed. The delays are averaging one hour and 45 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Meanwhile, New York’s JFK International Airport is leading the country in delays as of Monday morning, with 72 delayed flights and 33 cancellations.
Northeast hits estimated 400,000 customers without power
In Massachusetts alone, more than 110,000 electric customers are without power as a powerful storm pushes through the northeast, according to the tracker PowerOutage.us.
That brings the total of those without power in the northeast to more than 400,000. The number of people impacted appears to have doubled in just two hours — an estimated 200,000 customers were without power at approximately 8am local time on Monday.
Rain expected to ease up this afternoon in New York City
Rainfall is expected to ease around 1pm local time in New York City, the National Weather Service for New York City reports.
The current temperature sits around 59 deegrees, which is unseasonally high for the region. Average December temperatures in the Big Apple range from the low 40s to the high 30s, according to the NWS.
Temperatures are expected to drop to 50 degrees Monday afternoon and reach 39 degrees by the evening, the NWS forecasts.
Maine hits 100,000 without power as high winds expected to cause more damage
Maine hit 100,000 customers without power late Monday morning, tracker PowerOutage.us reports.
Damaging winds will continue through early Tuesday morning. Several inland counties should expect damaging winds that will down trees and power lines, according to the National Weather Service for Gray, Maine.
Meteorologists also say coastal residents should prepare for “hurricane force wind” through 1am on Tuesday. The NWS warned that vessels may also capsize or suffer damage due to the dangerous conditions.
Reports of power outages in Maine drop
Estimates for Maine power outages have dropped to 30,000 less than an hour after tracker PowerOutage.us reported 100,000 outages in the state.
Warnings for powerful, damaging winds in the state for the next 12 hours are still active, per the NWS.
Maine state offices close as officials predict more power outages
All State of Maine offices will close at 1pm local time on Monday due to extreme weather, according to an announcement from Governor Janet Mills.
“With the storm expected to grow stronger in the coming hours, I encourage all Maine people to be safe and vigilant and to exercise caution when traveling,” Ms Mills wrote in her statement.
Maine’s utility companies also expect continued power outages throughout the day for residents.
More than 700,000 across the northeast are without power as of Monday afternoon, power outages tracker reports
At least 700,000 customers from Pennsylvania to Maine are without power as of Monday afternoon, tracker PowerOutage.us reports.
Leading the outages are Massachusetts and Maine, both of which have more than 200,000 customers without power, the tracker shows. The National Weather Service for Boston confirmed that 260,000 customers are experiencing power outages as of noon local time.
Heavy rain hits New York City amid a nearly two-year spell of no snow
This week’s vicious storm hitting New York City comes amid a nearly two-year stretch without recordable snow in the Big Apple.
New York City’s Central Park hasn’t seen more than one inch of snow in a single day in more than 22 months thanks to the La Nina and El Nino phenomenons, a National Weather Service meteorologist previously told The Independent.
With temperatures on Monday near 50 degrees and this week’s temperatures forecasted to stay above freezing during the day, it appears the streak may continue even with the heavy precipitation.
Maine drivers should stay off roads as rare extreme weather continues: meteorologist
As Maine is hit with severe rain and winds, a meteorologist with the National Weath Service in Gray, Maine told The Independent one of the biggest concerns for residents is road safety.
Heavy rain is causing roads to become washed out and creating dangerous conditions for drivers, according to meteorologist Derek Schroeter.
“As we are losing daylight, the main concern here is people going out and traveling on roads, as we still will probably see some rises on area rivers through the middle of tonight,” Mr Schroeter said.
Temperatures will remain above freezing for the next 24 hours, Mr Schroeter said, allowing some drying as the rain is forecasted to end early Tuesday morning.
New York City lifted city-wide flood watch
New York City is no longer under a city-wide flood watch as rainfall eases up in the region, according to emergency management officials.
Brooklyn, Staten Island and South Queens are still under a Coastal Flood Warning until 6pm local time. Meanwhile, Manhattan, Bronx and North Queens are under a lesser Coastal Flood Advisory until the same time.
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