Roads flood in New Jersey, inundate some homes, as major signs of nor’easter take shape

Floodwaters covered streets in coastal New Jersey on Saturday morning as a powerful nor’easter battered the Northeast, knocking out electricity for more than 70,000 customers and threatening dangerous conditions through the weekend. Videos verified by NBC News showed heavy tidal flooding at Shelter Marina in Beach Haven. In nearby Beach Haven Crest, ducks swam along flooded streets. A resident’s video from Spray Beach showed water covering a fire hydrant and entering garages. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday that she had declared a state of emergency the day before as the storm bore down on Long Island, New York City and Westchester County. The state expected 4 to 6 inches of rain on Long Island and 3 to 6 inches in New York City over three days, she said, but coastal flooding was its greatest concern. Tens of millions of people are in the path of the storm. The National Weather Service warned of dangerous flooding along the mid-Atlantic coast, particularly near New Jersey and Delaware, as well as winds strong enough to down trees and power lines. “This storm is expected to bring major coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic Coast over multiple high tide cycles through the weekend,” the weather service said Saturday. “Prepare immediately for significant inundation in low-lying areas near the shore, including roads underwater and impacts to homes and businesses.” Hochul said about 22,000 customers in New York were without power and that swift-water recuse teams had been deployed in Nassau and Suffolk counties. State emergency management officials warned that high tides could bring more flooding Saturday night and Sunday morning, while rain could continue into Monday. In the coastal New Jersey borough of Surf City, water, with waves rippling along its surface, flooded the streets, inundating some homes. About 34 miles up the coast, in the borough of Manasquan, where some roads were also flooding, Mayor Mike Mangan said he expected “a lot of water in the streets for a long time.” A voluntary evacuation had been issued earlier in some low-lying areas of the community. Concerts were canceled, along with dozens of flights going into airports in Boston, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard on Friday and Saturday. Several airlines were offering to waive some change or cancellation fees for some East Coast flights through the weekend. New Jersey communities prepare for major flooding Brian Kelly, the mayor of the tiny New Jersey beach community Sea Bright, said the borough is bracing for winds of 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. “It’s going to be worse than average. We do have probably one or two flooding events a year, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I think this one will be closer to an Irene-scale flooding event,” Kelly said, referencing the 2011 storm that caused major flooding in the Northeast. “I hope I’m wrong, but that’s my gut feeling.” Kelly hopes hundreds of residents living in low-lying areas will consider evacuating. He said the town will open its recreation center for evacuees. Damaging winds threaten coastal New England Peak wind gusts could approach 60-65 mph on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in Massachusetts on Friday night and Saturday, compared with about 50-55 mph around Boston and 35-40 mph farther inland, according to Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with the 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. Belk said nor’easters are not unusual as New England moves into fall, but one concern this early in the season is that leaves remain on the trees, creating more wind resistance. That could increase the risk of downed limbs, which in turn can cause power outages and leave debris in roads, he said. Along the Atlantic coasts of New Jersey and Delaware, wind gusts could reach 60 mph, according to the NWS. In southeastern Connecticut and eastern Long Island, New York, gusts could be almost as strong, potentially downing tree limbs and power lines. Storm disrupts concerts, baseball and flights Air travel was also being disrupted, with Boston particularly hard hit. Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported 39 cancellations at Boston Logan International Airport between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Saturday, compared with 22 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Another 12 flights were delayed at Logan. Meanwhile, the Red Sox announced their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs would be adjusted. The team moved the Sunday-afternoon game to Friday to create a split doubleheader. Separately, Ed Sheeran announced that his high-profile Friday and Saturday shows at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, would be canceled due to the storm. The public ferry service connecting Cape Cod with the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard was experiencing widespread cancellations Friday due to strong winds and choppy water. In Rhode Island, ferries were also canceled for Block Island. The disrupted ferry service was expected to also spill into Saturday. For people who regularly travel to and from the islands, the possibility of getting stuck on one side or the other is “part of life,” said Sean Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority. Most people have backup plans in place for when boats are canceled. “It’s a nuisance, but you know, we know what to do with this kind of stuff at this point,” he said. “This is not out of the realm of ordinary.” Ashley Destino of Gloucester, a coastal city in northern Massachusetts, enjoyed a stroll along the beach with her two young children before preparing to hunker down at home during the storm. “We came to the beach on Friday afternoon because we knew we were going to be inside all weekend,” said Destino, who has Legos and arts and crafts activities prepared to entertain her two children, ages 7 and 4. She also prepared by securing her boat with additional lines, and her husband pulled out a generator in case the electricity goes out.