Jonathan Bachman | Reuters
Cities in the eastern United States are bracing for a major storm that will bring torrential rain, strong winds and severe thunderstorms to the East Coast and disrupt plans for the weekend.
The system developed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and is expected to intensify rain and winds as it moves toward the East Coast, with impacts expected to continue into Monday.
Flood and wind warnings are already in effect in parts of Florida. The weather could produce several tornadoes, the Weather Channel said in a post Saturday morning. X.
Florida Power & Light Company, the state’s largest electric utility, said it was responding to power outages caused by the storm.
“We are responding safely and quickly to power outages due to severe weather affecting parts of Florida, including heavy rain and gusty winds approaching the force of a tropical storm,” the company said in a statement. Xasking people to stay away from downed power lines and damaged electrical equipment.
Just over 7,000 customers were without power as of late Saturday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
Heavy rain is expected across most of Florida on Sunday. Severe thunderstorms could also produce isolated overnight tornadoes in parts of the state, including Tampa and Orlando.
Throughout Sunday, the storm will intensify as it moves north up the East Coast. Heavy rain and strong winds are expected along the central Atlanta coast.
In New York, rain will begin late Sunday morning and continue into Monday night. The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning Saturday for Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, coastal Connecticut and New London County, according to a post from the NWS. X.
A wind advisory was issued for most of Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island, southern Westchester and interior southern Connecticut, according to the NWS.
New York State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services prompted “Brace for a weather system that could dump up to 3 inches of rain and cause flooding in parts of the central Hudson Valley, including the eastern Catskills, southern metropolitan area, and parts of Long Island this weekend.” need to be prepared.
Governor Kathy Hochul Said His office is “closely monitoring the situation” and stands ready to assist local governments in the event of flooding.
It was a sunny but cloudy day in Boston on Saturday, the National Weather Service said in a post. X. But the NWS warned that conditions will begin to deteriorate late Sunday into Monday, when the storm will “bring heavy rain and strong winds to southern New England.”