Nor'easter kills one as Northeast flooding disrupts travel

Nor'easter conditions killed one person and disrupted Northeast travel Saturday, with flooding, outages and flight cancellations extending into Sunday.

The storm's center was about 100 miles south of Long Island late Saturday, with rain bands reaching from southern Massachusetts to southern New Jersey. Forecasters said showers could continue off and on into Monday morning, with heavier bursts possible in some areas.

Brooklyn trees turn deadly

New York police and Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Leighton Brown, a 56-year-old New York City Housing Authority employee, died after a tree fell at the Cypress Hills Houses in Brooklyn. The housing authority described Brown's death as a tragic loss.

Police said four other people were injured in a separate Brooklyn incident after a tree came down at a playground. The injured included children ages 1 and 7 and two women, ages 40 and 41; all four were taken to a hospital in stable condition.

The deaths and injuries showed how the storm's wind field translated into local hazards beyond the shoreline. Gusts of 50 to 60 mph were still being reported across southern New England overnight, strong enough to bring down trees and power lines in saturated ground.

Jersey tides fill motels

Flooding along the New Jersey coast forced rescues Saturday morning in Egg Harbor Township, where police said first responders removed nine adults and one dog from first-floor motel rooms. The guests were in two to three feet of water in the West Atlantic City neighborhood, according to police.

One rescued adult used a wheelchair, and police said no injuries were reported. The group was taken to a warming center before being returned safely to second-floor rooms, while firefighters later extinguished a small fire discovered during a follow-up check at one motel.

Along the Jersey Shore, residents used the break between tides to remove debris and assess water damage in streets and homes. In Ocean City, residents reported flooded first floors, damaged cars and trash cans, trailers and planters moved by the water.

The flooding also hit seasonal businesses on barrier islands. Kenny Formica, whose family has run Surf City Marina since the 1980s, said the shop had flooded only once before, during Hurricane Sandy, and that repairs would require replacing flooring, inventory and wall materials as the marina entered a slower cash-flow period.

Boston flights absorb delays

The storm disrupted air travel across the country as Northeast airports worked through wind, rain and coastal flood warnings. FlightAware logged more than 3,000 delays and nearly 450 cancellations nationwide Saturday, with Boston Logan International Airport recording 260 cancellations and more than 200 delays.

By early Sunday, FlightAware had already counted more than 200 delays and more than 200 cancellations for the day. New York City and Philadelphia airports also reported disruptions, according to the flight-tracking data.

Power outages added another layer of disruption. PowerOutage.us showed more than 82,000 customers without electricity across the Northeast early Sunday after gusts brought down trees and lines.

Rainfall totals had already reached 2 to 4 inches in parts of southern Massachusetts and 1 to 3 inches in eastern Long Island and northeastern New Jersey. Those totals matter because additional showers can slow drainage, complicate road reopening and extend utility repairs where crews are working around standing water.

Monday cleanup depends on tides

Coastal flooding was expected again around overnight high tides, though forecasters said most locations were not expected to exceed Saturday morning's levels. Minor to moderate flooding remained likely from Virginia to Long Island, keeping emergency crews focused on low-lying roads, motels and shore communities.

If the storm's rain bands keep rotating ashore into Monday, utilities and airlines face a longer recovery window as crews and schedulers work through damage already reported Saturday. If high-tide flooding stays below earlier peaks, the main task shifts toward draining streets, reopening routes and pricing repairs for households and seasonal businesses along the coast.