WASHINGTON – Tropical Storm Henri slammed into Rhode Island on the US east coast, knocking out power to thousands of Americans, uprooting trees and bringing record rainfall before weakening as it moved across New England.
The storm — earlier downgraded from a Category 1 Hurricane — hit land near the town of Westerly at approximately 12:15 PM (16:15 GMT), the National Weather Service said.
Henri is a rare tropical storm to strike America’s northeastern seaboard and comes as the surface layer of oceans warms due to climate change.
The warming is causing cyclones to become more powerful and carry more water, posing an increasing threat to the world’s coastal communities, scientists say.
Millions of residents in New England and New York’s Long Island had been told to prepare for violent winds, days without electricity and storm surges of up to five feet.
The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Henri brought maximum sustained gusts of 60 mph, lower than the 75 mph gusts predicted earlier.
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said there was “significant flooding” in areas. There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
By mid-afternoon the NHC had lifted all surge warnings and initial reports from residents indicated the storm was not as bad as projections feared although in Groton, Connecticut fallen trees threatened some homes.
“We dodged a bullet,” James Kiker, of Newport, Rhode Island, told AFP, saying he saw only “minimal damage” in his area, including a few broken branches.
Residents on Long Island, home to the plush Hamptons villages where wealthy New Yorkers retreat in summer, expressed relief that the storm’s path had skirted east of them.
“I will continue to stay alert as still plenty of wind, rain and surging seas await us but I am breathing a little easier,” Amy Pedatella, a 46-year-old property manager who spent Saturday securing seaside homes in the Hamptons, told AFP.
In Newark, New Jersey, flash flooding caused havoc with emergency services rescuing 86 people, including 16 children, from submerged vehicles.
In Helmetta, 30 miles south, volunteer firefighters waded through water waist deep to help evacuate residents from waterlines rising dangerously close to their homes.
Some 79,000 people lost power in Rhode Island and another 33,000 suffered blackouts in Connecticut, according to the tracking website poweroutage.us.
More than 200 flights were canceled at Newark airport while New York’s LaGuardia and JFK airports canceled almost 200 between them, they said.
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