Flights cancelled, thousands without power as powerful storm pummels US Northeast

• A powerful Nor’easter storm hit the US Northeast, causing heavy rain, strong winds, flooding risks, and power outages affecting over 75,000 customers across multiple states.
• Hundreds of flights were cancelled, including 130 at Boston’s Logan airport, and major cultural events in New York and Maryland were called off for safety.
• Authorities warned of coastal flooding, with up to 15cm of rain and 6m waves expected, urging residents to prepare and avoid unnecessary travel during the storm.

NEW YORK - Heavy rain and strong winds battered the northeastern United States on Sept 26 as an unusually powerful autumn storm intensified, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.

New York, Boston and Philadelphia were all in the firing line of the “Nor’easter” – so labelled for its northeasterly winds – as authorities warned of potential major flooding and road closures.

“This storm is expected to bring major coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic Coast over multiple high tide cycles through the weekend,” the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast.

“Prepare immediately for significant inundation in low-lying areas near the shore, including roads underwater and impacts to homes and businesses.”

More than 75,000 customers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts were without power as of 10am on Sept 26 (10pm in Singapore), according to the monitoring tool poweroutage.com.

New York state Governor Kathy Hochul said the storm was bearing down on Sept 26 on coastal areas of New York City and Long Island.

“The rain is under way... Mark my words. Much more is coming,” Hochul said in a press briefing, with up to 15cm of rain expected on Long Island over the next few days.

“We expect waves as tall as 20 feet (6m) in some areas.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned residents of the country’s most populated city about strong wind gusts and the possibility of downed power lines, saying “Don’t travel if you don’t have to.”

The storm forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights, including 130 at Boston’s Logan airport alone, according to tracker Flight Aware.

Major airlines including JetBlue, United and American issued travel alerts allowing passengers to change their flights without incurring fees.

The United Nations, where world leaders are gathered for the General Assembly, urged media outlets covering the event to clear broadcasting equipment from outside the New York headquarters due to strong winds.

‘Safety has to come first’

Major cultural events in the region were also called off, including the Global Citizen and All Things Go festivals in New York, and Oceans Calling in Maryland.

“Safety has to come first. This is the first time in 14 years we’ve had to cancel,” said organisers of the Global Citizen event in Central Park, which was meant to feature Lenny Kravitz, Lauryn Hill, country stars Lainey Wilson and Shaboozey, and Alicia Keys.

Nearly 13cm of rain was forecast in areas of Massachusetts including Boston – the equivalent of more than a month’s worth of rainfall.

After much uproar surrounding his tour, British pop singer Ed Sheeran’s weekend concerts near Boston were cancelled due to the storm, which could whip up wind gusts of 105 kmh along the New England coast.

Some coastal areas of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey have already seen flooding this week.

Nor’easters can occur throughout the year but are more frequent between fall and early spring. They are almost always accompanied by heavy rain or snowfall, as well as strong wind gusts.

Earlier this year, a Nor’easter that pummelled the north-east disrupted hundreds of flights and left thousands of homes and businesses without power.

That storm came weeks after the region recovered from a devastating winter weather system that was linked to more than 100 deaths. AFP