Nor’easter floods New York and New Jersey; falling tree kills man

A powerful nor’easter flooded coastal communities in New York and New Jersey and killed a man in Brooklyn as heavy rain, strong winds and dangerous waves continued to batter parts of the East Coast on Sunday.

Officials said a falling tree killed Leighton Brown, a 56-year-old New York City Housing Department employee, CBS News reported. New York State Police were also searching for a person who disappeared Saturday afternoon while swimming at a Fire Island beach, according to CBS.

In coastal sections of New York and New Jersey, floodwater nearly submerged parked cars, and residents paddled through neighborhoods in kayaks and canoes, CBS reported. The BBC reported that streets and homes were inundated Saturday in the New Jersey communities of Surf City and Manasquan. Flood warnings remained in effect along large stretches of the coast.

The storm also caused power failures and travel disruptions. More than 160,000 households, nearly all in the northeastern United States, had lost electricity, the BBC reported, citing the tracker PowerOutage. By Sunday morning, more than 40,000 customers in New York and about 30,000 in Connecticut were without power, CBS reported, citing PowerOutage.us. More than 2,400 flights were delayed and 1,199 were grounded Saturday, according to FlightAware figures reported by the BBC.

New York and New Jersey declared states of emergency. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urged residents to stay off the roads. “Don’t travel if you don’t have to,” he said in a video message reported by the BBC. “Do not drive or walk through floodwater.”

The National Weather Service forecast more rain through Monday night across mid-Atlantic and northeastern states, with additional flooding possible. Gusts of up to 50 mph could affect an area from New Jersey to Long Island, potentially bringing down more trees and power lines. New York officials warned of gusts up to 55 mph over the weekend, the BBC reported.

Forecasters also warned of rough surf and rip currents as far south as the Carolinas. The weather service said excessive rain could cause flooding in inland sections from New Jersey to New England. It said the rain would primarily bring localized flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, small streams and narrow canyons facing the greatest risks of inundation.

Along the coast, the agency warned of “repeated rounds of flooding,” especially around high tide, and urged people near the shore to prepare for “significant inundation in low-lying areas,” including flooded roads and impacts to homes and businesses. A full moon was projected to worsen coastal flooding, the BBC reported.

Dozens of flooding and damaging-wind incidents were reported from North Carolina to New York on Friday and Saturday, CBS reported, citing the weather service. Gusts approached 75 mph Saturday in Surf City, New Jersey, and Astoria, Pennsylvania, according to CBS.

The weather also forced event cancellations. The BBC reported that a Red Bull New York match against St Louis City SC, the Global Citizen Festival in New York City and an Ed Sheeran concert in the Boston area were called off.