At least six states are under flash flood warnings on Wednesday, as the severe weather which caused travel disruptions and school closures across much of the country in the past couple of weeks continue impacting millions.
Parts of North and South Carolina, Virginia, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island will be affected by widespread heavy rainfall on Wednesday, which is likely to create dangerous flash floods, according to the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Weather Prediction Center.
In New York City, which was put under a flood warning on Tuesday as the metropolis was hit by a major winter storm, an additional 1 to 1.5 inches of rain was expected through the night. The heavy rainfall was expected to cause flooding in areas with poor drainage and low-lying parts of the cities.
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On Tuesday, NYC officials announced the evacuations of 2,000 migrants who had been housed in a white tent complex in Brooklyn—Floyd Bennett Field—due to the “updated forecast with increased wind speeds estimated to be at over 70 mph” on Tuesday night, a spokesperson for City Hall said.
Between 1 and 4 inches of rain fell in North Carolina on Tuesday, causing flash flooding in several areas of the state in the evening of the same day. Local news website Spectrum reported that the storm took down power lines across the state, including along Interstate 95.
About 91,800 power outages were reported across South Carolina as well on the evening of January 9, most of them in Charleston County.
In Hartford, Connecticut, city authorities were warning residents to brace for flooding as the heavy rainfall is expected to combine with the melting snow to exacerbate conditions on the road. The NWS said that the Connecticut shoreline can expect widespread flooding and power outages as a result of the storm, which will bring wind gusts up to 65 mph.
In Virginia, several central counties were under severe thunderstorms and flash flood warnings until the early hours of Wednesday, with the NWS urging residents to “turn around, don’t drown” if they come across a flooded road. According to the weather agency, most flood deaths take place in vehicles.
The federal agency writes that “major storms will hammer the eastern U.S.” between Tuesday and Wednesday night, while “unsettled weather” will continue in the West and “dangerously cold temperatures” will hit the central U.S.
The risk of river and flash flooding is particularly high over the far western Carolinas. From northern and central Virginia through southern New York and into Connecticut to Rhode Island the risk of excessive rainfall is classified as moderate.
In Rhode Island, residents have been told to prepare for power outages that might last days. “These wind forecasts that could last an extended period of time are a bit concerning with this storm,” Dave Bonenberger, president of Rhode Island Energy, said in a press release quoted by The Providence Journal. “Couple that with significant rainfall on an already oversaturated ground, and we know that there will be outages.”
Forecasters also warn of high winds produced that are likely to blow through from the middle and lower Mississippi to the Southeast up to the East Coast. The NWS writes that strong winds with gusts up to 55 mph are likely to cause “numerous power outages” and moderate to major coastal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic and New England.
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