Chris Darconte and Lily Darconte on kayaks with their dog called "Lovey" on a flooded street after heavy rain from a nor'easter fell as a strong coastal storm batters the U.S. northeast coast, in Beach Haven West, near Surf City, New Jersey, US ( Photo- Reuters)

400+ flights cancelled as powerful nor'easter hits US East Coast

A powerful nor'easter swept the US East Coast, cutting power and disrupting flights. Emergency declarations and weather warnings signalled further flooding, rain and strong winds.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Over 88,000 properties lacked electricity across four states by Saturday afternoon
  • Outages fell from more than 119,000 earlier as restoration work progressed
  • PSEG Long Island restored 34,600 connections, though 13,300 customers stayed disconnected

A powerful nor'easter battered the US East Coast from Washington, D.C., to Maine over the weekend, disrupting air travel, knocking out power to more than 100,000 homes and businesses and prompting states to declare emergencies.

More than 88,000 homes and businesses remained without electricity across New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania as of 1:07 p.m. ET on Saturday, according to PowerOutage.com. The figure had fallen from more than 119,000 earlier in the day.

Connecticut, New Jersey and New York each had more than 25,000 utility customers without power shortly after 1 p.m. ET. PSEG Long Island said around 13,300 of its customers remained without electricity after trees, branches and wires were brought down by the storm. The utility said it had restored power to more than 34,600 customers affected since Friday morning.

The storm also caused widespread disruption at US airports. Around 425 flights involving US airports were cancelled and 1,338 were delayed on Saturday, according to FlightAware.

The US National Weather Service warned that the nor'easter would bring coastal flooding, dangerous rip currents, strong wind gusts and heavy rain across the Mid-Atlantic and New England through Monday.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared states of emergency on Friday in counties expected to be hit hardest, including New York City. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont also activated the state's Emergency Operations Center as authorities prepared for further impacts.

- Ends