Powerful Nor'easter Batters Northeast US, Cancels Flights, Cuts Power

Heavy rain and strong winds battered the northeastern US on Saturday as an unusually powerful autumn storm intensified, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and leaving tens of thousands of people without power.

Major cities in the storm’s path

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

The storm was described as an unusually strong nor’easter threatening to bring flooding and road closures to New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

Coastal flooding warning

“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.

The warning underscored the risk to low-lying coastal areas as the storm pushed rain and high winds across the region.

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

The combination of heavy rain, strong winds, flooding threats, road closure warnings, flight cancellations and power outages made the storm a disruptive autumn system for the northeastern US.

Source: South China Morning Post