A heavy storm that moved into the tristate area overnight into Monday morning left parts of New York City with power outages, downed trees and the threat of flooding in coastal areas.
Thousands of New Yorkers were left without power following a downpour that complicated the morning commute. Wind speeds neared 60 mph while a flood watch remained in effect in all five boroughs. The Verrazzano Bridge was temporarily closed in both directions.
The National Weather Service warned Monday morning that a deep storm over the Mid-Atlantic coast was expected to move northward into eastern Canada by evening, producing heavy rain in its path.
Gov. Hochul said Monday morning that the storm was “having a widespread impact from Long Island through the city all the way up to the Hudson Valley.”
“This will go away — it’s not going to be a sustained event,” she said. “But it’s going to continue to be bad through the morning and afternoon.”
She said power outages had been reported in Queens and Nassau County, and urged New Yorkers to “please be smart” on their morning commutes.
“We’ve been warning people all weekend long that this could be a very treacherous commute, and it is,” she said. “And what we’re most concerned about are the high winds and the coastal areas for flooding.”
Service on several train lines were temporarily suspended as MTA workers cleared debris from tracks. NYC Ferry temporarily suspended rush-hour service between Rockaway, Sunset Park and Wall Street. The Staten Island Ferry was also slowed by dangerous weather. A travel advisory expected to last until noon was put into effect.
Air travel was impacted at both of the city’s major airports. Flight Aware, which tracks flight delays, reported roughly 14% of early morning departures and arrivals at Laguardia were canceled. JFK reported numerous delays and cancellations. Flights to Boston Logan International Airport experienced average delays of an hour and 45 minutes. More than 130 flights were canceled at that airport by 9:20 a.m.
NYC Emergency Services said 8,650 people were without power citywide around 8 a.m. Outages affected every borough but Manhattan with Queens seeing the largest number of lost power, including in Middle Village. More than 3,500 customers were left in the dark in that borough. More than 2,270 Staten Island residents were without electricity Monday morning. Power outages throughout the state impacted at least 37,000 New Yorkers.
Mayor Adams on Sunday assured New Yorkers the city was up for handling the rough weather.
“Today’s coastal storm is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, and coastal flooding to New York City — and your city is prepared,” the mayor’s office posted on social media.
Total Customers Without Power:
Con Ed: Citywide: 8,650 | BK: 1,080 | BX: 1,758 | MN: 0 | QN: 3,583 | SI: 2,274 PSEG-LI: Rockaways: 5294 reports of downed trees citywide. Please be mindful of debris.
Crews are responding but please use public transportation if you must travel.
— NYC Emergency Management (@nycemergencymgt) December 18, 2023
With Tim Balk
