Flooding in New York as Hurricane Henry approaches the Northeast Coast | Tornadoes

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Hurricane Henry was due to hit the northeastern coast of the United States on Sunday, with torrential rains causing flooding in some areas of New York and nearby cities.

Millions on New York’s Long Island and southern New England braced for floods, fallen trees and extended power outages.

With the storm’s center expected to pass near the eastern tip of Long Island by midday, hurricane warnings extended from coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island to near the old whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and across luxury oceanfront properties in New York. The Hamptons to Fire Island Summer Vacation.

The first thunderstorms with up to six inches (15 cm) of rain arrived late Saturday, and flash floods began in some areas overnight. Bunches of torrential rain swept storm drains and drivers plunged into deeper waters at a few locations in New York City, Newark and Hoboken, New Jersey.

Henry hasn’t really made it to NYC yet, and this isn’t really a flood zone, but we’ve already had some flooding in Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/2sWyxMTLJ0

– Britney Christina Barcelona (@thot__tiana) on August 22, 2021

Tropical storm winds are expected to start hitting the coast around 8 a.m.

People at the expected course spent Saturday scrambling to stock up on groceries and fuel. Those close to the coast climbed up to the windows and, in some cases, were evacuated.

Residents and visitors to Fire Island, a narrow strip of sandy villages above sea level off the southern coast of Long Island, have been urged to evacuate. The last of the boats left before 11pm on Saturday and officials warned there might be no way to reach the people left behind.

The evacuation delivered heartache at the bachelorette party for Long Island resident Kristin Paves. Her group of 10 had planned to party on Saturday night, but ended up leaving on the ferry just a day after arriving. They were planning to stay until Monday.

“I’m upset about it, but the weather. It’s nothing I can control,” said Bavis. “I’ve been going to Fire Island for a long time, so I’m kind of aware of this happening.”

The approach of severe weather Saturday night also interrupted a star-studded concert in Central Park. The show, chaired by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson, was intended to celebrate New York City’s recovery from the coronavirus. But officials asked party-goers to leave the park during Barry Manilow’s appointment amid the threat of lightning.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, who will leave office on Monday after resigning over a sexual harassment scandal, appealed to New Yorkers Saturday to make last-minute preparations, warning that heavy rain, winds and storms from Henry could be as devastating as a superstorm. Sandy in 2012.

Signs on the highway warn passengers not to travel on Sunday. Photo: Caitlin Osh/Reuters

“We have a short lead. We’re talking about tomorrow,” Cuomo said. “So if you have to move, if you have to stock up, if you have to get to higher ground, it should be today. Excuse me.”

In Connecticut, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont warned residents that they should prepare for “protection in place” from Sunday afternoon through at least Monday morning as the state prepares for its first possible direct hit from a tornado in decades. Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee issued a similar warning.

Major airports in the area remained open as the storm approached, although hundreds of flights were canceled Sunday. Service at some branches of New York City’s commuter rail system was suspended through Sunday, as was Amtrak service between New York and Boston.

The White House said President Joe Biden discussed preparations with the governors of the Northeast and that New York Deputy Governor Kathy Hochhol, who succeeds Cuomo on Tuesday, also participated.

Biden later began agreeing emergency declarations with Rhode Island.

New York has not been hit directly by a powerful hurricane since Storm Sandy wreaked havoc in 2012. Some of the most important repairs from that storm have been completed, but many projects designed to guard against future storms remain unfinished.

With maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, just above hurricane strength, Henry was moving north at 18 mph as of Sunday morning. It was about 80 miles (125 km) southeast of Montauk Point on the tip of Long Island.

Some gas stations from Cape Cod to Long Island ran out of fuel. Southampton superintendent Jay Schneiderman described running supplies such as batteries and light bulbs when people were “starting to wake up”, and weather models showed the center of the storm would hit Southampton.

Regardless of exactly landfall, broad impacts were expected across a large swath of the Northeast, extending inland to Hartford, Connecticut, Albany, New York, and east to Cape Cod, which hosts tens of thousands of summer tourists.

The hurricane center said storms 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) were possible over much of the Long Island Sound all the way to Chatham, Massachusetts, and a little lower on the Atlantic coast of Long Island. Flash floods could have occurred in the interior already saturated with recent rains.

In the Hamptons, the celebrity playground on the eastern end of Long Island, officials warned of dangerous rip currents and flooding that would potentially turn streets like the mansion-lined dune road into lakes.

“We have a lot of rich people. There is no doubt that we do, but everyone does get together in case of emergency,” Schneiderman said. Talking about this storm I’m sure they’ll want to help.”

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