Thousands were plunged into darkness as the initial wall of a severe Nor’easter crashed into the East Coast — with millions of people in the path of the intense storm barreling towards the region early Saturday morning.
Over 24,000 customers in New Jersey were left without power as of 5 a.m. on Saturday, with most blackouts centered around Cumberland, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, according to tracker PowerOutage.us.
Roughly 16,000 New Yorkers were in the dark — 9,300 of whom live in Suffolk County and another 3,700 in Nassau County.
The rapidly strengthening nor’easter is expected to create dangerous conditions with heavy rain and high winds across the large region spanning New England to Long Island, New York City, New Jersey and southern Delaware.
Wind gusts as strong as 60 mph and high surf could cause major coastal flooding throughout the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
Officials have cautioned about tree damage, dangerous rip currents and beach erosion in certain areas.
The worst of the storm is expected late Saturday morning, with high winds, powerful rain and the harvest moon creating perfect conditions for coastal flooding.
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a state of emergency across several counties Friday ahead of the impending storm.
“I’m declaring a State of Emergency for Nassau, Suffolk, New York City and Westchester as this powerful coastal storm bears down on the region,” Hochul said Friday. “We’re expecting dangerous coastal flooding, strong winds and potential power outages through the weekend. Take this storm seriously. Stay alert, and avoid unnecessary travel.”
The declaration called for cut and toss crews to be available, along with pre-staging of high-axle vehicles and swift water rescue teams.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also declared a state of emergency for sections of the Garden State as Manasquan Mayor Mike Mangan said he expected “a lot of water in the streets for a long time.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont ordered the activation of the state’s Emergency Operations Center.
The NWS placed parts of Connecticut, all of Long Island, New York City, and the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and Delaware under coastal flood warnings.
Streets in Surf City, NJ, were already inundated with floodwaters Friday night, according to video shared online.
Other portions of the Garden State coastline saw high surf crashing onto the road over a seawall.
Jersey Shore Manasquan issued a voluntary evacuation warning as coastal area high tides forecast were expected to run 4 feet above normal.
NYC could see between 2 and 3 inches citywide, Mayor Mamdani’s office said.
Massachusetts airports Boston Logan, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard have canceled nearly 180 flights as of Saturday morning, according to flightaware.com.
Several concerts and sporting events scheduled for Saturday across the region were also moved or canceled due to the storm.
The New York Yankees played their Saturday contest as part of a single-admission doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles Friday.
The 2026 Global Citizens Festival set for Saturday in Central Park was canceled because of the powerful weekend storm. The All Things Go Festival, which was set to featre Zara Larsson, Carly Rae Jepsen, among other musicians at Forest Hills Stadium, was also scrapped.
Ed Sheeran, performing on a slimmed-down tour after Macklemore’s controversial performance and acrimonious exit, canceled his two shows scheduled at Gillette Stadium for Friday and Saturday because of the weather.
The Long Island Ducks didn’t allow the storm to rain on their parade as they clinched the 2026 Atlantic League Championship Friday night in Central Islip, the fifth in franchise history.
With Post wires
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