Nor’easter Brings Severe Weather: Coastal Flooding, High Winds, and Disruptions

Talia Manno experienced severe flooding on Saturday morning at her home in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Waves reached halfway up her front steps, a situation she had only seen during Hurricane Sandy. “It got up to my fifth step,” Manno said, finding the event alarming due to the speed at which it happened.

Manno is one of the many residents from the mid-Atlantic to Maine affected by a powerful and unusual September nor’easter. The storm caused widespread disruption with coastal flooding, heavy rain, and strong winds throughout the weekend. Nearly 80,000 residents across several states, including New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, lost power, according to PowerOutage.com.

The National Weather Service (NWS) indicated that the storm would continue to impact areas like the Jersey Shore, New York City, and Eastern Massachusetts into Sunday. Inundated streets and towering waves were captured in videos posted online, and some New York City residents resorted to kayaking through flooded streets. Both New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency in multiple counties, including New York City.

Francis Tarasiewicz, a meteorologist with the NWS in Massachusetts, highlighted that wind gusts along the coast might reach 60 miles per hour. This storm precedes the usual October through May nor’easter season. Typically, nor’easters last about a day, bringing strong winds and either snow or rain. “This one,” Tarasiewicz said, “is expected to persist for approximately 48 hours with winds exceeding 35 to 40 miles per hour.”

Travel disruptions were significant. Data from FlightAware revealed more than 1,000 flight cancellations on Saturday and delays in thousands more. Ferry services in Cape Cod and Rhode Island were interrupted, and Amtrak canceled several train services due to adverse weather and downed wires. Passengers like Jessica Lisboa, who was on a cruise to Bermuda, faced a tumultuous journey. Despite the conditions, she called the experience “a little wild” and an adventure worth taking.

Numerous events were also affected. The Oceans Calling music festival in Maryland, one of the largest in the area, was canceled. An AC/DC concert in New Jersey was rescheduled, and the Boston Red Sox moved their game against the Chicago Cubs. In Wallkill, New York, Olga Ostrovetsky coped with the wind during her wedding. She found a sense of serendipity in the weather, as it mirrored the conditions when she met her fiancé during a torrential downpour.

Manno, from Atlantic City, plans to stay with family away from the coast for safety. She expressed concerns about the increasing frequency of flooding and questioned her future residence in the area. “As the years pass, it seems like it’s just getting more and more flooding,” she commented. “It’s crazy.”