Dangerous nor’easter batters the US East Coast — one dead, hundreds of flights cancelled, thousands still without power as states of emergency continue in New York and New Jersey

A major nor'easter weather system hit the US East Coast last weekend, causing heavy winds, rainfall, and flooding in coastal areas and hazardous conditions in the sea from North Carolina up through New England.

The storm also made travel by air challenging. Over 3,000 flights delayed, with almost 430 cancellations, were reported in the US as per data from FlightAware.

Governor Kathy Hochul of New York declared a state of emergency for multiple counties in the city of New York and nearby locations with the passage of the coastal storm.


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Since the tides would continue to affect the water levels, a warning was issued that there may still be some flooding along the coasts despite the winds starting to subside.

This weather system caused disruptions to flights, fallen trees and power lines, and cut off electricity to hundreds of thousands of people. One person reportedly lost his life in New York City when a tree fell on an employee of the New York City Housing Authority in Brooklyn.

Floods occurred in coastal areas because of the combination of tidal waves and water brought by the storm.

New York City deals with fallen trees and dangerous winds

Several events took place in New York as the region was swept by winds.

The death of a 56-year-old NYCHA worker took place in Brooklyn as a tree fell on him while he was in a parking area on Saturday. The police stated that he was taken to Brookdale University Hospital, where he was declared dead.

The authorities were yet to establish the cause of the tree's fall.

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However, elsewhere in New York City, high winds led to some challenges in Queens. The tree fell down in Glendale around 5:40 pm, causing the power lines to come down and shutting down the road affected by the event.

Evacuation was done from a nearby building by the New York City Fire Department as a precautionary measure. No one was injured in this storm.

In light of the storm, Governor Hochul of New York declared a state of emergency in the following counties: Bronx, Brooklyn, Nassau, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk, and Westchester.

As far as citizens are concerned, the presence of high winds along with wet ground brings up another dangerous problem during storms: falling trees and broken branches causing damage to the electricity network and blocking roads.

New Jersey coast faces flooding as waves push inland

The effects were not limited to New York.

Along the Jersey Shore, residents spent Saturday clearing debris and dealing with floodwater between periods of high tide.

The nor’easter pushed seawater into some streets and homes near the coast, while strong waves and dangerous surf made conditions difficult for anyone near the shoreline.

Eight counties in New Jersey were still under a state of emergency that had been declared prior to the storm.

A major threat came from coastal flooding since water is not just a function of the wind strength; tides can cause severe flooding even when the strongest part of the storm passes.

This meant that communities would be subjected to cycles of rising water during successive tides.

The National Weather Service predicted major coastal flooding for the Jersey Shore to the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina. Moderate coastal flooding was expected for some parts of the Massachusetts coast.

Therefore, the extent of the storm covered a broad part of the Atlantic coast where communities have quite different geography but a similar vulnerability – lowlands adjacent to the sea.

Boston and New England brace for coastal flooding

Boston and other regions of New England experienced harsh winds, stormy seas, and flooding along the coasts as well.

Southeastern New England was one of the regions that experienced both the torrential rains and the oceanic conditions from the storm. The coast of Massachusetts would experience moderate coastal flooding, while other regions further south would experience major flooding.

The harsh conditions also created dangerous rip currents and waves along large portions of the coastline.

These conditions can be very dangerous even when the weather starts to clear. The waves from the offshore storm may continue to reach the beaches even after the centre of the storm has left.

Authorities thus proceeded to warn residents against venturing onto shorelines, jetty spots and other locations where waves are prone to surge inland unexpectedly.

For coastal areas, the storm served as a reminder of how floods could happen for a variety of reasons and not simply because of rain. Onshore winds could cause seawater to be blown to land, and tide being high would mean there is little space left for the water to move inland.

These were the reasons why tide timings became critical at the time when the storm rolled on into the beginning of the week.

Thousands of flights disrupted as storm keeps travel moving slowly

The nor’easter also created widespread problems for travellers.

There were about 3,000 delays and close to 430 cancellations reported by FlightAware for the entire country owing to the storm.

The Federal Aviation Administration has instructed travellers to contact their respective airlines for information on updated flights prior to going to the airport.

Even though there may not be bad weather at an airport, winds could make aviation services difficult. Rain, low visibility and problems in runway operations would cause more delays, while disruptions at one big airport would cause problems for other planes and crews operating at other locations.

The storm also disrupted road travel as fallen trees, power lines and coastal flooding blocked paths.

It was anticipated that the storm would continue to impact areas of the East Coast into early next week, with flooding peaking and subsiding according to the tides.

This implied that the end of the storm and strong winds does not mean that the problem has ended.

For the people living near the coast, there were no complicated issues: don't get caught in the flood, avoid the rough waves and listen to instructions from the local authorities.