Hurricane Henri closes in as the Northeast braces for impact

3 years ago 286

People disembark from a ferry successful Bay Shore, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, arsenic it arrived from Fire Island. An evacuation bid by the extremity of the time was ordered for the land owed to the imaginable of harm owed to incoming Hurricane Henri. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Hurricane Henri kept connected people aboriginal Sunday to clang into a agelong long of northeastern coastline, arsenic millions connected New York’s Long Island and successful confederate New England braced for flooding, toppled trees and extended powerfulness outages.

With the halfway of the tempest projected to walk implicit oregon conscionable disconnected the eastbound extremity of Long Island by midday, hurricane warnings extended from coastal Connecticut and adjacent the aged whaling larboard of New Bedford, Massachusetts, to crossed the luxurious oceanfront estates of New York’s Hamptons, to the summertime getaway of Fire Island.

The archetypal thunderstorms bringing what could beryllium up to fractional a ft (15 centimeters) of rainfall arrived precocious Saturday, and flooding began successful immoderate areas overnight. Several videos posted online showed drivers plowing done precocious h2o successful New York City, and Newark and Hoboken, New Jersey.

People successful the projected way spent Saturday scrambling to banal up connected groceries and gasoline. Those adjacent to the seashore boarded up windows and, successful immoderate cases, evacuated.

Residents and visitors connected Fire Island, a constrictive portion of sandy villages hardly supra oversea level disconnected Long Island’s confederate coast, were urged to evacuate. The past boats retired were leaving astatine 10:40 p.m. Saturday.

The evacuation threw a wrench into Kristen Pavese’s planned Fire Island bachelorette party. The radical of 10 had intended to observe retired connected Saturday night, but ended up leaving connected the ferry conscionable a time aft arriving. They had planned to enactment until Monday.

“I’m upset astir it, but it’s the weather. It’s thing I tin control,” said Pavese, a Long Island resident. “I’ve been going to Fire Island for a agelong time, truthful I’m benignant of acquainted with this happening.”

Approaching terrible upwind Saturday nighttime besides cut abbreviated a superstar-laden performance successful Central Park. The amusement headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson was meant to observe New York City’s betterment from the coronavirus. But officials asked concertgoers to permission the parkland during Barry Manilow’s acceptable amid the menace of lightning.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, set to permission bureau Monday aft resigning implicit a intersexual harassment scandal, emerged Saturday to plead with New York residents to marque last-minute preparations, informing that dense rain, upwind and tempest surge from Henri could beryllium arsenic devastating arsenic Superstorm Sandy backmost successful 2012.

“We person abbreviated notice. We’re talking astir tomorrow,” Cuomo said successful 1 of his last forays earlier TV cameras, a mounting that changeable him to fame during the worst of the pandemic past year. “So if you person to move, if you person to banal up, if you person to get to higher ground, it has to beryllium today. Please.”

Gov. Ned Lamont warned Connecticut residents they should hole to “shelter successful place” from Sunday day done astatine slightest Monday greeting arsenic the authorities braces for the archetypal imaginable nonstop deed from a hurricane successful decades. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee issued a akin warning.

Major airports successful the portion remained unfastened arsenic the tempest approached, though hundreds of Sunday's flights were canceled. Service connected immoderate branches of New York City’s commuter obstruction strategy was suspended done Sunday, arsenic was Amtrak work betwixt New York and Boston.

The White House said President Joe Biden discussed preparations with northeastern governors and that New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who succeeds Cuomo connected Tuesday, besides participated.

Biden aboriginal began approving exigency declarations with Rhode Island.

New York hasn’t had a nonstop deed from a almighty cyclone since Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc successful 2012. Some of the astir important repairs from that tempest person been completed, but galore projects designed to support against aboriginal storms stay unfinished.

With a apical upwind of 75 mph (120 kph), conscionable supra hurricane strength, Henri sped up to determination northbound astatine 21 mph (38 kph) arsenic of Saturday night. It was inactive astir 180 miles (290 kilometers) south-southeast of Montauk Point connected the extremity of Long Island.

Gas stations from Cape Cod to Long Island began to merchantability retired of fuel. Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman described a tally connected supplies similar batteries and flashlights arsenic radical “are starting to aftermath up” arsenic upwind models showed the storm's halfway would tally “smack connected the municipality of Southampton.”

Regardless of its nonstop landfall, wide impacts were expected crossed a ample swath of the Northeast, extending inland to Hartford, Connecticut, and Albany, New York, and eastward to Cape Cod, which is teeming with tens of thousands of summertime tourists.

Storm surge betwixt 3 and 5 feet (1 to 1.5 meters) is imaginable from Flushing, New York, to Chatham, Massachusetts, and for parts of the North Shore and South Shore of Long Island, the hurricane halfway said. Flash flooding was imaginable successful inland areas already saturated by caller rain.

In the Hamptons, the personage playground connected Long Island’s eastbound end, officials warned of unsafe rip currents and flooding that’s apt to crook streets similar the mansion-lined Dune Road into lagoons.

“We person a batch of affluent people. There’s nary uncertainty that we do, but everybody pulls unneurotic successful an emergency,” Schneiderman said. “So, you know, yeah, determination are radical hanging retired connected their yachts astatine the infinitesimal drinking martinis, but they’re besides starting to speech astir this tempest and I’m definite they’re going to privation to beryllium helpful.”

___

Hill reported from Albany, New York. Associated Press writers Mallika Sen and Larry Neumeister successful New York, Mike Melia successful Hartford, Connecticut, and Mark Pratt successful Waltham, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

Read Entire Article