NEW YORK – Hurricane Henri kept on course early Sunday to crash into a long stretch of northeastern coastline, as millions on New York´s Long Island and in southern New England braced for flooding, toppled trees and extended power outages.
With the center of the storm projected to pass just off 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 the luxurious oceanfront estates of New York´s Hamptons to the summer getaway of Fire Island.
The first thunderstorms bringing what could be up to half a foot (15 centimeters) of rain arrived late Saturday, and flash flooding began in some areas overnight. Bands of heavy rain overwhelmed storm drains and drivers plowed through foot-deep water in a few spots in New York City, and Newark and Hoboken, New Jersey.
Tropical storm-intensity winds were expected to begin striking the coast at around 8 a.m. Rising tide threatened to produce dangerous storm surge, AP reported.
People in the projected path spent Saturday scrambling to stock up on groceries and gasoline. Those close to the coast boarded up windows and, in some cases, evacuated.
Residents and visitors on Fire Island, a narrow strip of sandy villages barely above sea level off Long Island´s southern coast, were urged to evacuate. The last boats out left before 11 p.m. Saturday and officials warned there might be no way to reach people left behind.
The evacuation threw a wrench into Kristen Pavese´s planned Fire Island bachelorette party. The group of 10 had intended to celebrate Saturday night, but ended up leaving on the ferry just a day after arriving. They had planned to stay until Monday.
“I´m upset about it, but it´s the weather. It´s nothing I can control,” said Pavese, a Long Island resident. “I´ve been going to Fire Island for a long time, so I´m sort of familiar with this happening.”
Approaching severe weather Saturday night also cut short a superstar-laden concert in Central Park. The show headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson was meant to celebrate New York City´s recovery from the coronavirus. But officials asked concertgoers to leave the park during Barry Manilow´s set amid the threat of lightning.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, set to leave office Monday after resigning over a sexual harassment scandal, emerged Saturday to plead with New York residents to make last-minute preparations, warning that heavy rain, wind and storm surge from Henri could be as devastating as Superstorm Sandy back in 2012.
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