Weather System Leaves Devastation From South Carolina To Maine/17 Dead

[RestoreGore]

I think this is just a foretaste of things to come and that global warming had a hand in it. This system was huge and here we are still experiencing its effects. I didn't flood thank God, but those that did have my sympathies. And my condolences to the families of those killed in this storm. Seems we never acknowledge that.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18150990/


Storm lingers in Northeast; towns start cleanup
Weather system leaves devastation from South Carolina to Maine, 17 dead

Robert F. Bukaty / AP

Updated: 2 hours, 5 minutes ago

TRENTON, N.J. - Floodwater still swirled through low-lying communities Tuesday after a deadly spring storm swept the Northeast, but commuters and air travelers swept an easier time. The nor’easter left a swath of devastation from the beaches of South Carolina to the mountains of Maine. It knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people, and the storm system was blamed for at least 17 deaths nationwide. While some towns were starting the cleanup Tuesday, authorities in Nashua, N.H., began evacuating a town house development in an area where the Nashua and Merrimack rivers converge. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people were affected there, deputy Fire Chief Steve Gallipeau said.

More than 170,000 utility customers were without power Tuesday in North Carolina. Utilities in New Hampshire, where 30,000 were still without power, said repairs were going slowly because of continued flooding, washed-out roads and the storm’s broad reach, which meant other utilities couldn’t send spare crews to help. The storm dumped up to 9 inches of rain on parts of New Jersey, and more than 8 inches fell in New York City’s Central Park. The park’s Sunday total, 7½ inches, quadrupled the 101-year-old record for April 15.

‘I was expecting worse’

Showers lingered Tuesday and forecasters said the system wouldn’t move out entirely for another day or more. Flood warnings remained posted in parts of New Jersey and eastern New York. But the Port Authority said the New York area’s airports, where about 600 flights had been canceled, were operating normally on Tuesday. At the baseball-theme Homeplate Restaurant in Mamaroneck, N.Y., water rose 3 feet inside, but owner Fred Santiago held out hope he could reopen soon, even as he dumped ruined tables and chairs out on the sidewalk. “I was expecting worse, to tell you the truth,” Santiago said Tuesday. “Maybe I’m in a state of shock, but I think we can do this. I’m not a quitter.”


New Jersey was placed under a state of emergency and more than 1,400 residents were evacuated — many by boat. Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey said he expects the state to qualify for federal assistance to recover from the storm.“We’re going to well exceed it (the federal aid threshold), without question,” Codey said. The storm was especially harsh in Bound Brook, where five homes burned down after fire crews could not reach the buildings because of floodwaters.
snip

Storm turns deadly

At the height of the storm, snow fell in inland areas, including 17 inches in Vermont. Snowdrifts stranded tractor-trailers on highways in Pennsylvania, and washouts, mudslides and fallen trees blocked roads from Kentucky to New England. Amtrak suspended some service in Maine for a second day Tuesday because tracks were washed out. The storm was expected among the worst since a December 1992 nor’easter caused millions of dollars worth of damage to buildings, boardwalks and beaches. Floodwaters killed a woman and her 4-year-old granddaughter in Maine after they were swept into a river as they tried to cross a washed-out section of road. A 15-year-old girl died Monday night after a canoe overturned outside Albany, N.Y.

In New Jersey, a man died in a car stalled in deep water in an underpass while another drowned in a flooded street. Another person was killed by a tornado in South Carolina, and four died in car accidents in upstate New York, Connecticut and North Carolina. The same storm system was blamed for five deaths earlier in Texas and Kansas.

[jpak]

1. More than 123,000 Maine homes lose power; outages may linger

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/070417power.html

Thousands of people still will be without power today, after more than 123,000 households lost power during the heavy rains and high winds that pounded Maine on Monday.

Only the ice storm of 1998, which caused 340,000 outages, knocked out power for more people around the state.

Candlelit homes and cold showers have been common in the last two weeks. A winter storm that left almost 2 feet of snow in parts of the state on April 4 resulted in outages for 117,000 Central Maine Power Co. customers.

On Monday, Mainers scrambled to find gas-powered electricity generators. Home-improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's from Biddeford to Brunswick reported being sold out of generators.

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[phantom power]

2. Jeez, did they even finish restoring power from that last storm?

[jpak]

3. Just barely

A lot of people are buying generators now that never would have considered owning one in the past...

[RestoreGore]

4. People here as well are still cleaning up

I am on higher gorund so iwas oneof the lucky ones. Others not so lucky and it still looks like more rain coming today.