CONCORD, N.H. (news agencies) — Drenching rains, flooding and fierce winds stranded vehicles, shuttered schools and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in the Northeast, the swan song of a bout of violent weather that battered most of the United States. Forecasters warned Wednesday that more misery was not far behind.
The storm hit the Northeast on Tuesday night and moved out Wednesday after toppling trees, downing power lines, and forcing water rescues on flooded or washed-out roads.
Wind gusts reached as high as 95 mph (153 kph) in Maine, and blustery weather continued Wednesday. Philadelphia, which sits on the Delaware River upstream from the Atlantic Ocean, experienced its highest storm surge on record.
Another storm could bring heavy rain and high winds to the Northeast from Friday night into Saturday, forecasters said.
The region’s woes followed a day of tornadoes and deadly accidents in the South and blizzards in the Midwest and Northwest. In some parts of the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, more than 2 feet (about 75 centimeters) of snow fell. Bone-chilling cold promised to follow in some areas, and an avalanche in California killed at least one person as a new storm rolled in.
Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power at some point as storms swept the country. At least 250,000 customers remained without power Wednesday afternoon on both coasts and in parts of the Midwest, with New York and Pennsylvania leading the count, according to PowerOutage.us.
Nearly 700 flights were canceled across the country Wednesday, according to FlightAware.com.
The effects of the storm by region, and what’s still to come:
A couple of Pennsylvania communities got more than 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain, and others came close. Emergency responders rescued some drivers as low-lying roads flooded.
In Lower Macungie, outside Allentown, a Mercedes remained in the middle of a now-dry two-lane road Wednesday afternoon, its owner having yet to retrieve it. An orange cone, a sign that rescuers had cleared the car, sat atop it. All told, first responders rescued four motorists in the bedroom community.
“It’s a common occurrence that when we have the heavy rains and the flooding occurs, and we shut down these roads, that some people choose to take their chances,” said Lower Macungie Fire Chief David Nosal. “And some make it through, some don’t, and those that don’t end up calling 911, and then we have to go out and retrieve them.”
The storm surge at Philadelphia was the highest in records dating to 1900, said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. The storm flooded roads, uprooted trees and cut power.
The previous high surge came during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“Coastal flooding is accelerating and will continue to do so because sea level rise is accelerating, as well,” Masters said.
In New Jersey, roads flooded and rivers rose after some up to 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain fell on ground already saturated by another storm a few weeks ago.
Lou DeFazio, 65, of Manville, lives steps from the Millstone River, which flooded disastrously in 2021 in the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” he said as the river swelled Wednesday.
In New York’s Nassau County, on Long Island, cars sloshed through water in the streets of Freeport. Farther east, near the Hamptons, flooding was reported at Shinnecock Bay. Several schools across Long Island canceled or delayed classes.
New York City officials evacuated nearly 2,000 migrants housed at a sprawling tent complex in Brooklyn amid fears high winds could collapse it. Families slept on the floor of a high school. The migrants returned to the complex early Wednesday after winds eased.
Winds gusted to 95 mph (153 kph) at Maine’s Isle au Haut, an island in Penobscot Bay, said Jon Palmer, of the National Weather Service.
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