400 flights cancelled, 100,000 without power as Nor-easter hits US East Coast

US Nor’easter batters East Coast, cancels over 400 flights, leaves 100,000 without power

A strong nor’easter hitting the US East Coast from Washington, DC, to Maine this weekend forced airlines to cancel over 400 flights and left more than 100,000 homes and businesses without power at one point on Saturday.Flight tracker FlightAware said 439 flights involving US airports had been cancelled and 2,459 delayed as of 6.13 pm (local time).The governors of New York and New Jersey on Friday declared states of emergency in counties expected to see the worst of the storm, including New York City. Connecticut’s governor activated the state’s Emergency Operations Center.More than 68,000 homes and businesses remained without power in New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania as of 6.07 (local time), according to PowerOutage.com.

The figure was down from more than 119,000 customers earlier in the day.New York had more than 31,000 customers without power, while Connecticut and New Jersey each had more than 12,000.PSEG Long Island said severe weather was affecting 13,212 electric customers across Long Island and the Rockaways as of 5 pm (local time). The company said the storm brought down trees, branches and wires, and that it had restored power to more than 45,100 customers affected since Friday morning.

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation said crews were working to restore power to more than 19,000 homes and businesses in New York state as of 4 pm (local time) Parts of Ulster County were among the hardest-hit areas, and restoration efforts were expected to continue into Sunday.Flooding was reported in parts of New Jersey, from Bergen County in the north to Cape May County in the south, NJ.com reported. Voluntary evacuations were ordered in some Jersey Shore communities. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford also announced that rock band AC/DC’s Friday concert had been postponed until October 2.The US National Weather Service said the nor’easter would bring coastal flooding, rip currents, strong wind gusts and heavy rain to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions through Monday.