A powerful spring storm expected to be the worst of its kind in almost 15 years pounded the East Coast of the United States on Monday, bringing relentless rains, flooding rivers, and prompting evacuations from New Jersey to West Virginia. It was blamed for eight deaths across the US.
The governors of West Virginia and New Jersey declared states of emergency, giving them extra powers to handle storm-related problems. New York’s governor, meanwhile, deployed 3 200 National Guard members to areas that might be affected by the storm.
Power officials said about 7 500 customers lost power across Long Island on Sunday. Some residents along the Long Island Sound were urged to evacuate.
The storm was expected to be the worst of its kind since the December 1992 north-easter that caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage to buildings and forced thousands of evacuations.
One person was killed by one of three tornadoes that touched down in South Carolina, destroying or damaging dozens of mobile homes. Two other people died in car accidents — one in upstate New York and one in Connecticut. The storm rattled the states along the Gulf of Mexico on Friday and Saturday with violent thunderstorms, raked Texas with at least two tornadoes and was blamed for five deaths before heading north-east.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled in the New York area’s three major airports, as well as those in Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere in the north-east on Sunday. Wind gusts of up to 77km/h were reported at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport.
In Rhode Island, storm-related high winds forced the shutdown of TF Green Airport in Warwick early on Monday. The winds damaged a construction area near the departure lounge on the second floor, airport spokesperson Patti Goldstein said.
Up to 45,7cm of heavy, wet snow was expected across the higher elevations of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. On the coast, strong winds and driving rain sent fishing boats to port, and residents prepared for coastal flooding.
More than 14cm of rain fell in the New York City region on Sunday, shattering the record for the date of 4,6cm set in 1906, according to the National Weather Service. Residents in at least one Queens neighbourhood paddled through streets in boats.
Near Hamlin, West Virginia, hundreds of people living below an earthen dam were asked to evacuate because of concerns that heavy rain had destabilised the structure. A break in the 6,7m dam would affect an area where 500 to 1 000 people live.
Earlier on Sunday, dozens of people were rescued from homes and vehicles in Boone, Logan and Wyoming counties after flooding spawned by the storm system rolled through southern West Virginia. At least two people were injured and two others were unaccounted for, emergency officials said.
In Connecticut, more than 43 000 power failures were reported across the state and in New Jersey, flooding was reported along the Ramapo and Saddle rivers in Bergen County, while minor flooding was occurring along the Delaware River. — Sapa-AP