Nor’easter barrels down on East Coast, threatens millions with severe flooding and powerful winds

The powerful nor’easter headed to New England intensified Friday, generating storm-force winds and creating massive waves along the East Coast that forecasters warned could create dangerous conditions through the weekend. 

Tens of millions of people are in the path of the storm, which has already canceled concerts and prompted people on islands near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to head to the mainland in the days ahead of the nor’easter’s arrival. Dangerous flooding was expected along the Mid-Atlantic coast, particularly near New Jersey and Delaware starting Friday and heading into Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

“The heaviest rain is probably going to be from coastal Jersey, Long Island, up to Rhode Island, and eastern Massachusetts,” said Brian Hurley, senior national forecaster with the NWS Weather Prediction Center, adding that the storm was expected to weaken later Saturday.

Residents of some communities urged to evacuate

A voluntary evacuation had been issued in some low-lying areas of Manasquan, a coastal New Jersey borough, while the governors of New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency in advance of the storm.

“We’re definitely seeing at the high end of moderate and maybe the low end of major flooding,” said Manasquan Mayor Mike Mangan. “That may not mean a lot to people, but that means there is going to be a lot of water in the streets for a long time.”

Some towns along the New Jersey shore were already getting battered by coastal flooding. In Ship Bottom, roads were submerged. Some drivers attempted to push through the rising floodwaters, while some residents were grabbing what little they could and fleeing to higher ground on foot.

In Sea Bright, homeowners and businesses were preparing for the worst. However, Michael Cardelfe, owner of Donovan’s Reef Beach Bar, said his doors will stay open. “We are like the local watering hub and Donovan’s Reef is the kind of place, when we have a storm, we get busier,” Cardelfe told CBS News.

Brian Kelly, the mayor of Sea Bright, said the borough is bracing for winds 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. “A lot of the homes are elevated, but obviously, you know, people can get trapped in their house temporarily,” he added. 

The system was already kicking up high surf and causing beach erosion in Ocean City, New Jersey, where block after block was underwater.

On New York’s Long Island, a state of emergency was declared. Crews built a wall of sand along the beach to keep the rising tide away from homes.

“If the tide goes out, we don’t expect to have such bad flooding,” Robert Kennedy, mayor of the Long Island village of Freeport, told CBS News. “If the tide stays in, it could increase the flooding in the village.”

In Plymouth, Massachusetts, south of Boston, boaters were clearing out the harbor. “I just want people to take some extra precaution, plan ahead a little bit,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a Friday news conference.

On Massachusetts’ South Shore, the towns of Cohasset and Scituate sit right in the bullseye of the storm. While parts of the coastline are protected by seawalls, some of those seawalls are in the middle of repair projects or have seen those projects stall due to federal funding cuts.

Strong winds could push the ocean water over the seawalls, creating flooding.

“So the waves hit the seawall and they go straight up about 60, 70, 80 feet, and the wind hits it from the northeast and every wave ends up hitting the house,” Kevin Gill, owner of an oceanfront Scituate home, told CBS News Boston on Thursday.  

Peak wind gusts could approach 60 to 65 mph on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket on Friday night and Saturday, compared with about 50 to 55 mph around Boston and 35 to 40 mph farther inland, according to Matthew Belk, a meteorologist with 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.

Nor’easter cancels sporting events, concerts

As residents braced for the storm, the Boston 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.

Meanwhile, 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. Several flights to the islands were also canceled.

Over in Rhode Island, ferries were also canceled for Block Island. The disrupted ferry service was also expected to 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. Part of living in this region is just kind of knowing how to deal with this stuff.”

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 for the high winds and tides by securing her boat with additional lines, and her husband pulled out a generator in case the electricity goes out.