Moving inland, Tropical Storm Henri drenches Northeast

By DAVID KLEPPER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and DAVID PORTER

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with dense upwind and rainfall arsenic it made landfall Sunday connected the seashore of Rhode Island, knocking retired powerfulness to implicit 100,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and near galore radical stranded successful their vehicles.

The tempest was downgraded from a hurricane earlier reaching New England, leaving galore to respire a suspiration of alleviation successful a portion that has not taken a nonstop deed from a hurricane successful decades. There were fewer aboriginal reports of large harm owed to upwind oregon surf.

But the storm’s heavy, sustained rains raised concerns astir flooding from the tempest that threatened to stall implicit the portion earlier pivoting to the East and moving retired to the Atlantic Ocean connected Monday night. Some of the highest rainfall totals were expected inland.

By Sunday afternoon, Henri had sustained winds of astir 50 mph arsenic it moved inland crossed Connecticut, according to the National Hurricane Center. When it made landfall adjacent Westerly, R.I., it had sustained winds of astir 60 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph.

Several large bridges successful Rhode Island, which stitch unneurotic overmuch of the state, were concisely shuttered Sunday, and immoderate coastal roads were astir impassable.

Westerly nonmigratory Collette Chisholm, a 20-year resident, said the waves were overmuch higher than normal, but said she wasn’t acrophobic astir her location suffering extended damage.

“I emotion storms,” she said. “I deliberation they’re exciting, arsenic agelong arsenic nary 1 gets hurt.”

In Newport, Paul and Cherie Saunders were riding retired the tempest successful a location that her household has owned since the precocious 1950s. Their basement flooded with 5 feet of h2o during Superstorm Sandy 9 years ago.

“This location has been done truthful galore hurricanes and truthful galore things person happened,” said Cherie Saunders, 68. “We’re conscionable going to hold and spot what happens.”

Rhode Island has been deed by hurricanes and tropical storms periodically — including Superstorm Sandy successful 2012, Irene successful 2011 and Hurricane Bob successful 1991. The metropolis of Providence sustained truthful overmuch flooding harm from a hurricane successful 1938 and Hurricane Carol successful 1954 that it built a hurricane obstruction successful the 1960s to support its downtown from a tempest surge coming up Narragansett Bay. That obstruction — and newer gates built adjacent — were closed Sunday.

Some communities successful cardinal New Jersey were inundated with arsenic overmuch arsenic 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rainfall by midday Sunday. In Jamesburg, tv video footage showed flooded downtown streets and cars astir wholly submerged.

In Newark, Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara said constabulary and firefighters rescued 86 radical successful 11 incidents related to the storm. He said “significant flooding” led to aggregate vehicles submerged successful flooded areas.

In a portion wherever the crushed successful galore areas is saturated from caller rains, the forecast had immoderate fearing the worst effects of the rainfall were inactive to come.

Marshall Shepherd, manager of the atmospheric sciences programme astatine the University of Georgia and erstwhile president of the American Meteorological Society, said Henri was reminiscent successful immoderate ways of Hurricane Harvey, a slow-moving tempest that decimated the Houston country successful 2017, exacerbated erstwhile bands of rainfall acceptable up eastbound of the city, a improvement meteorologists telephone “training.”

“You’re seeing a small spot of that grooming successful the New Jersey/New York area, adjacent arsenic the tempest itself is simply a small to the eastbound and the northeast,” Shepherd said. “To the westbound broadside of the storm, you person a banding diagnostic that has virtually been stationary — sitting determination and dumping rain. That volition beryllium a important hazard for the New York and New Jersey area.”

Some successful New England cautioned against complacency, informing that Henri – if it does stall and dump aggregate inches of rainfall – had the imaginable to inflict harm akin to Tropical Storm Irene successful August 2011.

After Irene roared up the coast, galore successful the Northeast were relieved erstwhile the New York City country mostly was spared. But past the tempest settled implicit the Green Mountains, and Irene became the biggest earthy catastrophe to deed Vermont since an epic 1927 flood. Parts of the authorities got 11 inches of rainfall successful conscionable 24 hours. Irene killed six successful Vermont, near thousands homeless, and damaged oregon destroyed much than 200 bridges and 500 miles of highway.

“I retrieve Irene and media outlets extracurricular Vermont brushing it speech arsenic if nary large woody portion it deed Vermont,” Robert Welch, a podcaster, tweeted Sunday. “I’ll unbend erstwhile I spot it astatine oversea connected radar.”

By Sunday afternoon, powerfulness outages affected implicit 78,000 customers successful Rhode Island, 32,000 successful Connecticut, 9,000 successful Massachusetts and 4,000 successful New York.

In Connecticut, 4 nursing homes connected the shoreline were evacuated, according to Paul Mounds, main of unit for Connecticut’s governor. About 250 residents were relocated to different nursing homes, helium said. Storm-related flooding was blamed for large delays on Interstate 91 adjacent Hartford.

In 1 of his last appearances arsenic politician earlier helium is acceptable to measurement down astatine the extremity of Monday implicit a intersexual harassment scandal, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that with the menace to Long Island diminishing, the state’s superior interest were inland areas similar the Hudson River Valley, northbound of New York City, which was projected to get inches of rainfall implicit the adjacent fewer days.

Rainfall successful the Catskills “is a important problem,” Cuomo said. “In the Hudson Valley you person hills, you person creeks, the h2o comes moving down those hills and turns a creek into a ravaging river. I person seen tiny towns successful these mountainous areas devastated by rain. That is inactive a precise existent possibility.”

President Joe Biden declared disasters successful overmuch of the region, opening the purse strings for national betterment aid. The White House said Biden discussed preparations with northeastern governors and that New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who succeeds Cuomo connected Tuesday, besides participated.

Major airports successful the portion remained unfastened arsenic the tempest approached, though hundreds of Sunday’s flights were canceled. Service connected immoderate branches of New York City’s commuter obstruction strategy was suspended done Sunday, arsenic was Amtrak work betwixt New York and Boston.

Norbert Weissberg watched the waves from the borderline of the parking batch astatine a formation successful East Hampton arsenic beardown winds whipped an American emblem flying from an unmanned lifeguard chair.

“I’m ever excited astir seeing thing arsenic ferocious arsenic this,” said Weissberg. “It’s little ferocious than I thought. We’re each geared up for a major, large calamity, and it’s a small little than that.”

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Kunzelman reported from Newport, Rhode Island. Porter reported from New York. Associated Press writers William J. Kole successful Warwick, Rhode Island, Michelle Smith successful Providence, Rhode Island, Michael R. Sisak and Julie Tucker from East Hampton, and Michael Melia successful Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.