United States, Hawaii and Mexico are witnessing for powerful storms, from a strengthening nor’easter along the East Coast to hurricanes Nolo and Polo in the Pacific, bringing strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and rough seas.
Powerful Nor’easter Storm
A slow-moving, powerful storm crept along the coast of the northeast U.S. on Saturday, producing high winds that knocked out electricity to thousands while whipping up big waves and heavy rains that created dangerous conditions in some places. Tens of millions of people were in the path of the nor'easter, which was forecast to affect the Mid-Atlantic area and New England throughout the weekend. Around 100,000 customers in the region were without electricity Saturday.
In Edgewater, New Jersey, along the Hudson River, water had spilled into a large parking lot packed with cars. Video posted to social media showed one car nearly submerged, with just its sunroof poking above the water, as people moved other vehicles farther from the rising tides.
Flights, MLB Game, Ed Sheeran Concert Cancelled
The storm forced a change of plans for many people. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Boston Logan International Airport, as were the vast majority of flights at the popular Massachusetts tourist destinations of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Around 425 flights involving US airports have been canceled and 1,338 flights delayed so far on Saturday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
The Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs — both gearing up for the playoffs during the final weekend of the regular Major League Baseball season — had to shuffle the schedule for their three-game series. They played a double-header Friday in Boston to try to avoid the storm. Then MLB rescheduled their finale on Sunday to occur in Florida, at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ed Sheeran canceled his high-profile concerts Friday and Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Farther south, a highway closure on North Carolina’s Hatteras Island scrambled Jayden Sink and Kimberly Laprad’s Saturday wedding plans. The Virginia couple had made it onto the island before the storm, but most of their roughly 45 guests were stranded on the other side of the closure, the Island Free Press reported. A local campground offered a new venue, cabins and an officiant, and a DJ volunteered to provide music. Organizers invited anyone on the island to come celebrate with the couple Saturday afternoon.
Hurricane Nolo
Heavy rain and powerful winds are expected to bring flash floods and extreme surf to the Hawaiian Islands over the weekend as Hurricane Nolo bears down on areas still recovering from previous storms.
Nolo was churning slowly south of Hawaii's Big Island on Saturday with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph). The storm's center was about 145 miles (235 kilometers) south of Hawaii's southernmost point and could strengthen into a potentially life-threatening and catastrophic storm through the weekend.
Forecasters warned of possible flooding and mudslides, with parts of the Big Island expected to see rainfall totals up to 20 inches (51 centimeters). Heavy rainfall also was expected on Hawaii's other islands.
Hurricane Polo
Hurricane Polo moved away from Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday as a downgraded Category 4, before an expected return to make landfall in Baja California Sur on Monday, forecasters said. On Saturday afternoon, Polo was about 330 miles(531 km)south west of the Mexican resort town of Cabo San Lucas, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (233 kph), according to the US National Hurricane Center. The storm was moving north west at 9 mph.
The NHC downgraded the hurricane from Category 5 on Saturday. AccuWeather, a private forecaster, reported that Polo is expected to gradually lose intensity and hit Baja California as a Category 2. It's due to make landfall in an area away from dense population centers but with some small towns such as Las Barrancas, it said.
