Northeast winds moved up the East Coast on Sunday, with New Jersey declaring a state of emergency and some airports reporting flight delays and cancellations ahead of expected coastal flooding and strong winds as another storm system hit the South with heavy rain.
“The biggest impacts will be potential coastal flooding, especially for areas from northeastern North Carolina north to much of the New Jersey coast,” said meteorologist Bob Oravec of the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
Heavy rain was also forecast for southeastern New England and the New York area, with some falling in coastal South Carolina, Oravec said.
As of Saturday evening, a state of emergency has been declared throughout New Jersey. It is expected to last through Monday, allowing the state's emergency personnel to be activated if necessary.
Parts of the state are forecast to experience moderate to severe coastal flooding, inland flash flooding, wind speeds of up to 60 mph (97 kph), rainfall of up to 5 inches (about 13 centimeters) and high surf, potentially causing beach erosion. Some volunteers placed sandbags on the beaches.
The National Weather Service has placed a coastal flood warning and a wind warning in New York until at least noon Monday. Coastal areas of the Long Island metropolitan area could experience flooding, with up to 3 inches (about 8 centimeters) of rain and gusty winds expected, the weather service said.
Wind gusts of more than 30 mph (48 kph) were already reported across the region Sunday morning.
Some flight delays and cancellations were announced at airports from Washington to Boston.
The storm was expected to subside by Monday evening.
