Wind, rain knock out power to 400,000 in Northeast

1 min ago

The winds downed trees and power lines throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut on Saturday. The New York City area and southern New Jersey have about 335,000 combined customers without power. About 85,000 are without power in the Philadelphia area.

In Atlantic City, the arm of a crane collapsed at the Revel Casino construction site. Debris went flying and crashed through the window of a police cruiser, injuring an officer.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Strong winds and heavy rain pounded parts of the Northeast on Saturday, knocking out power to nearly 400,000 customers, diverting international flights and toppling a boom crane at an Atlantic City casino construction site, injuring one police officer.

Logan International Airport in Boston received nine overseas flights bound for New York because they no longer had the fuel to wait for clearance to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, said Massport spokesman Matthew Brelis. Among the planes diverted because of heavy rain and high winds was the double-decker Airbus A-380, the biggest commercial passenger jet in the world.

Customers from Long Island to the northern suburbs of New York City were in the dark as utility company crews worked to restore power. Consolidated Edison reported more than 80,000 without power in New York City and parts of Westchester County by about 7:30 p.m., while Long Island Power Authority had about 85,000 customers without electricity.

About 85,000 customers in the Philadelphia area were without power Saturday, said Pennsylvania Electric Co. spokesman Ben Armstrong.

Hurley‘s injuries were not considered life-threatening, Capt. Bill McKnight said.

No other injuries were reported.

Pittsburgh had braced for what meteorologists were calling the worst potential for flooding since remnants of Hurricane Ivan swept through the city in September 2004. Officials worried that a forecast of warm weather and several days of rain would cause deep snow in the mountains to melt, prompting rivers to swell.

But officials downgraded some of their river crest projections Saturday in western Pennsylvania as rainfall appeared to be less than was projected.

Connecticut Light & Power said 31,000 customers were without power in an area including Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk.

Flood warnings were issued for several rivers in northern Jersey, including the Ramapo River at Mahwah and Saddle River at Lodi, where minor to moderate flooding was expected Saturday night and Sunday. Coastal flood and high wind warnings were in effect for the Jersey Shore.



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