East Coast braces for major storm with heavy rain and strong winds: Live updates - The Independent

Record-setting storm batters East Coast with millions under flash flood warnings: Live | The Independent

Record-setting storm batters East Coast with millions under flash flood warnings: Live

Major storm system moves northward, hitting New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, after pummeling Florida with heavy rain

Martha McHardy,
Katie Hawkinson Comments

The East Coast is bracing for a major storm with 58 million people currently under flood watches just as holiday travel plans get under way.

Around one foot of rain is expected to inundate New York on Monday as more than a dozen states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, are under flood warnings with heavy rain and strong winds moving in. Meanwhile, cities in South Carolina and Georgia broke rainfall records on Sunday.

An estimated 700,000 customers are without power from Pennsylvania to Maine, tracker PowerOutage.us reports.

The National Weather Service has warned that strong gusts of wind may make travel particularly difficult in parts of southern Connecticut, southeastern New York and Boston.

The strong gusts may down trees and power lines, as well as damage or blow away outdoor holiday decorations in parts of the region, officials have warned. Maine is expected to suffer damaging winds until early Tuesday morning.

The severe weather conditions have already affected traffic along the I-95 corridor, which has been at risk of delays from wind and rain throughout the weekend and into Monday. Airports in New York City and Boston are also experiencing significant delays and cancellations.

South Carolina was hit hard with flooding rains on Saturday, while around 45 million people from eastern Georgia to the Northeast were also under high wind alerts late on Sunday.
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New York City lifted city-wide flood watch

New York City is no longer under a city-wide flood watch as rainfall eases up in the region, according to emergency management officials.

Brooklyn, Staten Island and South Queens are still under a Coastal Flood Warning until 6pm local time. Meanwhile, Manhattan, Bronx and North Queens are under a lesser Coastal Flood Advisory until the same time.
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Maine drivers should stay off roads as rare extreme weather continues: meteorologist

As Maine is hit with severe rain and winds, a meteorologist with the National Weath Service in Gray, Maine told The Independent one of the biggest concerns for residents is road safety.

Heavy rain is causing roads to become washed out and creating dangerous conditions for drivers, according to meteorologist Derek Schroeter.

“As we are losing daylight, the main concern here is people going out and traveling on roads, as we still will probably see some rises on area rivers through the middle of tonight,” Mr Schroeter said.

Temperatures will remain above freezing for the next 24 hours, Mr Schroeter said, allowing some drying as the rain is forecasted to end early Tuesday morning.
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Heavy rain hits New York City amid a nearly two-year spell of no snow

This week’s vicious storm hitting New York City comes amid a nearly two-year stretch without recordable snow in the Big Apple.

New York City’s Central Park hasn’t seen more than one inch of snow in a single day in more than 22 months thanks to the La Nina and El Nino phenomenons, a National Weather Service meteorologist previously told The Independent.

With temperatures on Monday near 50 degrees and this week’s temperatures forecasted to stay above freezing during the day, it appears the streak may continue even with the heavy precipitation.
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More than 700,000 across the northeast are without power as of Monday afternoon, power outages tracker reports

At least 700,000 customers from Pennsylvania to Maine are without power as of Monday afternoon, tracker PowerOutage.us reports.

Leading the outages are Massachusetts and Maine, both of which have more than 200,000 customers without power, the tracker shows. The National Weather Service for Boston confirmed that 260,000 customers are experiencing power outages as of noon local time.
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Maine state offices close as officials predict more power outages

All State of Maine offices will close at 1pm local time on Monday due to extreme weather, according to an announcement from Governor Janet Mills.

“With the storm expected to grow stronger in the coming hours, I encourage all Maine people to be safe and vigilant and to exercise caution when traveling,” Ms Mills wrote in her statement.

Maine’s utility companies also expect continued power outages throughout the day for residents.
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Reports of power outages in Maine drop

Estimates for Maine power outages have dropped to 30,000 less than an hour after tracker PowerOutage.us reported 100,000 outages in the state.
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Maine hits 100,000 without power as high winds expected to cause more damage

Maine hit 100,000 customers without power late Monday morning, tracker PowerOutage.us reports.

Damaging winds will continue through early Tuesday morning. Several inland counties should expect damaging winds that will down trees and power lines, according to the National Weather Service for Gray, Maine.

Meteorologists also say coastal residents should prepare for “hurricane force wind” through 1am on Tuesday. The NWS warned that vessels may also capsize or suffer damage due to the dangerous conditions.
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Rain expected to ease up this afternoon in New York City

Rainfall is expected to ease around 1pm local time in New York City, the National Weather Service for New York City reports.

The current temperature sits around 59 deegrees, which is unseasonally high for the region. Average December temperatures in the Big Apple range from the low 40s to the high 30s, according to the NWS.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 50 degrees Monday afternoon and reach 39 degrees by the evening, the NWS forecasts.
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Northeast hits estimated 400,000 customers without power

In Massachusetts alone, more than 110,000 electric customers are without power as a powerful storm pushes through the northeast, according to the tracker PowerOutage.us.

That brings the total of those without power in the northeast to more than 400,000. The number of people impacted appears to have doubled in just two hours — an estimated 200,000 customers were without power at approximately 8am local time on Monday.
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New York, Boston airports hit by delays and cancellations amid holiday travel

Airports serving the New York City and Boston areas are seeing delays and cancellations as severe weather continues to hit the northeastern United States.

LaGuardia Airport is first in the country for cancelled flights as of Monday morning, with at least 81 flights cancelled and 38 delayed, FlightAware reports.

Boston’s Logan International Airport is a close second, with 68 cancelled and 53 delayed. The delays are averaging one hour and 45 minutes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Meanwhile, New York’s JFK International Airport is leading the country in delays as of Monday morning, with 72 delayed flights and 33 cancellations.