Slow-moving storm Henri drenches Northeast US

By DAVID KLEPPER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and DAVID PORTER

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — Tropical Storm Henri socked the Northeast with beardown winds arsenic it made landfall Sunday connected the seashore of Rhode Island and sent lashing bands of rainfall westward, knocking retired powerfulness to implicit 140,000 homes and causing deluges that closed bridges, swamped roads and near immoderate radical stranded successful their vehicles.

The tempest was downgraded from a hurricane earlier reaching New England, leaving galore to respire a suspiration of relief, but the National Hurricane Center warned the slow-moving tempest would proceed dumping dense rains connected wide swaths of the portion good beyond the weekend.

Over 2 days, heavy, sustained rains flooded areas arsenic acold southwest arsenic New Jersey, adjacent arsenic it took connected tropical slump status.

The tempest threatened to stall adjacent the New York-Connecticut borderline overnight, earlier pivoting eastbound and moving retired toward the Atlantic Ocean connected Monday. Some of the highest rainfall totals were expected inland. There were fewer aboriginal reports of large coastal harm owed to upwind oregon surf.

President Joe Biden connected Sunday promised to supply national assistance to the residents of affected states. The president declared disasters successful overmuch of the region, opening the purse strings for national betterment aid.

Biden earlier had offered his condolences to the radical of Tennessee, aft terrible flooding from an unrelated tempest killed astatine slightest 22, including young children and aged people, and near dozens of others missing.

When it made landfall adjacent Westerly, Rhode Island, Henri had sustained winds of astir 60 mph and gusts of up to 70 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. By precocious Sunday, Henri had sustained winds of astir 30 mph (48 kph) arsenic it moved crossed Connecticut toward the New York authorities line.

Some of the worst rainfall arrived good earlier the storm’s center. In Helmetta, New Jersey, immoderate 200 residents fled for higher ground, taking refuge successful hotels oregon with friends and family, arsenic flood waters inundated their homes.

“It came truthful speedy — successful the blink of an eye,” said the town’s mayor, Christopher Slavicek, whose parents were spending the nighttime aft fleeing their home.

“Now there’s cleanable up. So this is acold from over,” the politician said.

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.

“This could person been a batch worse, peculiarly arsenic it relates to wind,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday evening.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said Henri was adjacent to being successful the “rear presumption mirror,” but said there’s inactive much enactment to do, adjacent arsenic mandatory evacuations were being lifted successful immoderate communities. About 250 residents from 4 nursing homes connected the shoreline had to beryllium relocated to different nursing homes.

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

In Newport, Paul and Cherie Saunders rode 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 for hours Sunday earlier reopening.

The National Weather Service recorded what could beryllium the wettest hr ever successful Central Park, with 1.94 inches of torrential rainfall pelting the parkland betwixt 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday. Earlier successful the evening, thousands attending a Homecoming performance astatine the parkland were forced to disperse due to the fact that of dense rainfall.

After passing backmost done New England and sweeping retired into the Atlantic implicit the adjacent mates of days, the hurricane halfway predicted, Henri “will suffer its identity.”

Until then, areas from northeast Pennsylvania done New England braced for dense rains.

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.

“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,” Shepherd said.

After Tropical Storm Irene roared up the seashore successful August 2011, galore 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.”

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 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.

“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,” Cuomo said.

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.

Power outages affected powerfulness to 130,000 homes crossed Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.

Connecticut’s largest electrical inferior said it had restored 20,000 customers but thousands similar Linda Orlomoski, who lives successful Canterbury, remained without power.

“I haven’t seen immoderate trucks astatine each successful my vicinity but the other extremity of my roadworthy had their powerfulness restored earlier 6 p.m. So adjacent and yet truthful far!” she said. “It’s expected to get nasty blistery and humid again connected Tuesday. So if we inactive person nary powerfulness by then, that volition beryllium miserable.”

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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 Walker from East Hampton, Will Lester successful Washington, Philip Marcelo successful Boston, Michael Melia successful Hartford, Connecticut, Susan Haigh successful Norwich, Connecticut, and Bobby Caina Calvan successful New York contributed to this report.

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This communicative has been corrected to amusement that a quoted inferior customer’s past sanction is Orlomoski, not Oski.