Nor’easter persists over the Northeast as high tides threaten more coastal flooding

BOSTON (AP) — A powerful nor’easter storm hit the Northeast again Sunday, flooding coastal communities and leaving tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power as forecasters warned another round of high tides could inundate vulnerable shorelines.

The slow storm, which killed a New York City housing authority employee when a tree fell Saturday, it is expected to persist through Sunday with heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous surf from New Jersey to New England.

The storm remained just south of Long Island and east of northern New Jersey Sunday morning and was expected to circle the area for about another 24 hours, said Bob Oravec, senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

The heaviest remaining precipitation was expected Sunday, from northern New Jersey through New York and Long Island to southern New England. The storm was gradually weakening, Oravec said, but the threat of tidal flooding would persist during high tide cycles Sunday morning and again in the evening.

“The most impactful elements of the storm will likely be high winds and tidal flooding,” Oravec said.

The northeast triggered memories of Superstorm Sandywhich caused more than $60 billion in damage across the eastern United States in 2012. Although the impact of this storm is far from comparable, it could be the first of many along the East Coast this fall due to a El Niño climate pattern that is disrupting this year’s weather.

More than 130,000 customers were without power Sunday morning in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, according to PowerOutage.us.

The most widespread outages occurred along the coast of New Jersey, Long Island, New York, and coastal counties in Connecticut. Toppled trees on Long Island damaged homes and cars, blocked streets and destroyed numerous power lines.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said response coordination centers in affected regions were operating in an “enhanced posture” and crews were on standby in New England in case of widespread outages.

On Saturday, in New Jersey and New York, people paddled down flooded streets in kayaks. Others headed to beaches to try to surf waves higher than usual. Emergency crews in Sea Bright, New Jersey, rescued a woman and her dog after their vehicle became stuck in floodwaters. ABC7 reported.

In Surf City, New Jersey, water rose inside a marina where workers had moved equipment to higher ground, and owner Kenny Formica said customers had reported boats and jet skis missing or ripped from their lifts. In Norfolk, Virginia, floodwaters left passing cars causing wakes on some streets.

The storm also disrupted travel throughout the region. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Boston’s Logan International Airport, while flooding cut off highway access to North Carolina’s Hatteras Island, stranding visitors and forcing one couple to scramble to move their wedding after most of their roughly 45 guests were unable to reach the island.

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AP reporter Julie Walker contributed from New York.