‘Powerful’ storm dumps heavy rain over East Coast with 59 million under flood alerts

A “powerful” storm is lashing the mid-Atlantic coast Monday morning with heavy rain and thunderstorms, leaving 59 million people from Virginia to Maine under flood alerts, 200,000 homes and businesses without power and holiday travelers scrambling as airports report flight delays and cancellations. 

There’s a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of New England today through Tuesday, the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center warned.

“The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable,” the weather service said. 

The same storm system battered Florida and the Carolinas with strong winds and torrential rain over the weekend — with Charleston breaking a daily record on Sunday with 3.86 inches of rainfall and Gainesville, Florida, recording over 7 inches.

The East Coast is already reeling from the impacts with over 250,000 people across New England and New York without power as of 8 a.m., according to PowerOutage.us.

In New York City, a travel advisory is in effect due to flooding conditions on roads, power outages and high winds on bridges. The city’s emergency management office also warned of “imminent” flash flooding in Manhattan and the Bronx, warning locals to avoid basements and low-lying areas. 

“Please exercise caution with your morning commute. Take mass transit and stay off the roads if possible,” Mayor Eric Adams tweeted. 

There’s over 500 delays nationwide and over 370 cancellations, a number likely to keep growing today ahead of holiday travel chaos that sees millions take to the skies a week ahead of Christmas, according to FlightAware data. It comes after a weekend that marked a dizzying over 10,000 delays and nearly 200 cancellations.

The threat of heavy rain will end on Tuesday as the system moves further into Canada by Monday evening. 

Lake-effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes and upslope snow over parts of the Northern and Central Appalachians is also in the forecast Monday through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

The heaviest snow on Monday will fall over parts of the Central Appalachians, southwest of Lake Michigan in Michigan and Indiana, and along the central and eastern shore of Lake Erie in Ohio and New York. The lake-effect snow will lighten up on Tuesday and end over the Upper Great Lakes, forecasters said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.