Powerful nor'easter causes coastal flooding and knocks out power to parts of the northeast US

Boston, Sep 27 (AP) A slow-moving, powerful storm crept along the coast of the US Northeast on Saturday, producing high winds that caused power outages while whipping up big waves and heavy rains that created dangerous conditions.

Tens of millions of people were in the path of the nor'easter, which was forecast to affect the mid-Atlantic area and New England throughout the weekend. Electricity was knocked out to about 100,000 customers in the region at one point.

The forecast showed no immediate reprieve. There will be “a lot of high winds, a lot of high tides and heavy rain possibility over the next few days for the northeastern US,” said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

The highest tides were likely to occur north of Atlantic City, New Jersey, from Saturday night into Sunday, creating the potential for widespread road flooding in coastal and bayside communities, the National Weather Service said.

“Anyone who goes in or near the water this weekend is literally gambling with their life,” New York Gov Kathy Hochul said.

High waters overtake roads and businesses

In Long Island, New York, some people kayaked down flooded streets.

In the coastal New Jersey borough of Surf City, Kenny Formica sat at home watching surveillance cameras showing water rising inside the marina he owns. Water getting inside the building is rare, Formica said. The last time he remembers it happening was during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which he said caused more than USD 4 million in damage to his business.

Ahead of the storm, workers secured dock lines, moved loose items and equipment out of harm's way and parked the marina's trucks and forklifts at the highest point of the property.

Formica said he awoke to messages from customers reporting missing boats and Jet Skis. One customer sent him a video around 4 am showing his 25-foot (7.6-metre) boat after it had blown off its lift.

“This is like an 8,000-pound boat and, you know, a USD 150,000 boat — just gone,” Formica said.

In Ocean City, Maryland, heavy surf caused beach erosion and washed out fencing by the dunes.

“In all the canals, the water is up really high and coming into people's backyards,” Jay Boyd said by telephone.

Farther south in Norfolk, Virginia, Ellie Hodge watched from her front stoop as passing vehicles left wakes. The coastal city saw isolated flooding all week because of the nor'easter.

“We've seen cars get stuck on the road, going up the sidewalks,” Hodge said. “It's been pretty bad this time around.”

Flights, concerts and sports events scrapped

The storm forced a change of plans for many people. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Boston Logan International Airport, as were the vast majority of flights at the popular Massachusetts tourist destinations of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

The Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs — both gearing up for the playoffs during the final weekend of the regular season — shuffled the schedule for their three-game series, playing a doubleheader Friday in Boston to try to avoid the storm. Then the league rescheduled their Sunday finale to be played in Florida at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Ed Sheeran cancelled his high-profile concerts Friday and Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Also cancelled: an Ironman triathlon in New York and the three-day Oceans Calling Festival in Ocean City, Maryland, which had been promoted online as “a wave of music.”

Farther south a highway closure on North Carolina's Hatteras Island scrambled Jayden Sink and Kimberly Laprad's wedding plans. The Virginia couple made it onto the island before the storm, but most of their roughly 45 guests were stranded on the other side of the closure, the Island Free Press reported.

A local campground offered a new venue, cabins and an officiant, and a DJ volunteered to provide music. Organisers invited anyone on the island to come celebrate with the couple Saturday afternoon.

Officials urge caution

Nor'easters are not unusual as New England moves into the fall, but “this might be a little earlier than average for a big storm,” said Oravec, of the National Weather Service.

The storm's slow movement could worsen beach erosion by subjecting the coast to a prolonged period of strong winds and waves, he said.

State officials along the East Coast urged people to use caution.

Hochul said coastal flooding was the biggest threat, but heavy rains, powerful winds and waves as high as 20 feet (6 metres) were also expected.

In Long Island, ferry owner Stephanie Sherman paused operations between Patchogue and the barrier island of Fire Island.

“It's been a pretty wild storm,” Sherman said. “But nothing that we haven't experienced in the past. These happen every so often.”