Nor’easter to lash East Coast
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The powerful nor'easter headed to New England intensified Friday, generating storm-force winds and creating massive waves along the East Coast that forecasters warned could create dangerous conditions through the weekend.
Tens of millions of people are in the path of the storm, which has already canceled concerts and prompted people on islands near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to head to the mainland in the days ahead of the nor'easter's arrival. Dangerous flooding was expected along the Mid-Atlantic coast, particularly near New Jersey and Delaware starting Friday and heading into Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
"The heaviest rain is probably going to be from coastal Jersey, Long Island, up to Rhode Island, and eastern Massachusetts," said Brian Hurley, senior national forecaster with NWS' Weather Prediction Center, adding that the storm was expected to weaken later Saturday.
A voluntary evacuation had been issued in some low-lying areas of Manasquan, a coastal New Jersey borough, while the governors of New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency in advance of the storm.
"We're definitely seeing at the high end of moderate and maybe the low end of major flooding," said Manasquan Mayor Mike Mangan. "That may not mean a lot to people, but that means there is going to be a lot of water in the streets for a long time."
Brian Kelly, the mayor of the tiny New Jersey beach community Sea Bright, said the borough is bracing for winds up to 50 mph and flooding that could reach up to 6 feet on some streets. Officials expect the flooding to start Saturday and worsen by midday.
Kelly hopes hundreds of residents living in low-lying areas will consider evacuating. He said the town will open its recreation center for evacuees. "A lot of the homes are elevated, but obviously, you know, people can get trapped in their house temporarily," he added.
Peak wind gusts could approach 60 to 65 mph on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on Friday night and Saturday, compared with about 50 to 55 mph around Boston and 35 to 40 mph farther inland, according to Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with NWS in Norton, Massachusetts.
"It's definitely going to be a case of the closer to the coast you are, the more impacts from the storm you're likely to see," Belk said.