New Jersey and parts of New York City were under a state of emergency on Monday as slow-moving nor’easter moved up the easter US seaboard, while in western Alaska remnants of Typhoon Halong lashed coastal hamlets and ripped houses off their foundations.
In Alaska, rescue aircraft were sent to the villages of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, where there were reports of up to 20 people possibly unaccounted for.
“We have received reports that people’s homes have floated away and that people were potentially in those homes,” Zidek, a spokesperson for the state division of homeland security and emergency management, told the Associated Press.
The area is among one of the most isolated in the US, where some communities have few roads and residents use boardwalks, boats and snowmobiles to get around, Zidek said.
The Alaska governor, Mike Dunleavy, extended a disaster declaration to communities in the Yupitt, Pribilof Island and Lower Kuskokwim education districts.
“Every effort will be made to help those hit by this storm. Help is on the way,” Dunleavy said in a statement on X.
Separately, the storm making its way up the east coast prompted flooding and high winds in coastal areas from the Carolinas to New England.
In Delaware, emergency management officials activated the state national guard in response to rising floodwaters and harsh winds. In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, seawater washed over highway 12 at a motel near Buxton.
Flooding was reported as widespread in Georgetown county in South Carolina, where several motorists had to be rescued when rising water; in Charleston, many downtown streets were closed because of rising waters; and in Myrtle Beach, heavy rain overwhelmed that city’s stormwater system.
“Please be safe and stay home, if possible,” Myrtle Beach officials posted on Facebook.
As the storm moved up to the coast, all of New Jersey was placed under a state of emergency. The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, issued a similar declaration for eight southern counties, urging people to monitor forecasts and avoid travel.
The National Weather Service placed New York City, Long Island and southern Westchester county under a coastal flood warning and wind advisory through at least Monday afternoon.
The emergency declaration, which included the five boroughs of New York City and Westchester county, forced the cancellation of the annual Columbus Day parade in Manhattan, news outlets reported.
Among the areas hardest hit were coastal areas of suburban Long Island, where up to 3in of rain and winds packing peak gusts of 45 to 50 mph inland away from the shore, and 55 to 60 mph on the coast.
“Those are starting to come down,” National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Stark, told Newsday early Monday.
Police in Nassau and Suffolk counties said they had received calls about downed tree limbs but no reports of injuries or any significant road closures. Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy said the village received nuisance flooding and experienced extra high tides.
