Parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and southern parts of New England were put under flood watch through Monday because of the same storm system that spawned deadly tornadoes over the weekend, leaving at least 6 people dead in Tennessee.
The National Weather Service predicts Long Island could see up to 5 inches of rain, with 2 to 3 expected elsewhere by the time it ends by late morning Monday. Almost 4 inches of rain had already fallen in Farmingdale by Monday morning.
Upstate New York was dealing with significant snowfall: Middleburgh, west of Albany, saw 6 inches fall in the last 24 to 48 hours.
Authorities urged motorists not to travel unless necessary and to take survival gear such as blankets, a shovel, a flashlight and extra batteries and chain tires if they do choose to drive.
In New York City, where winds of up to 35 mph could see unsecured objects swept away, Mayor Eric Adams activated the city's flash flood emergency protocol.
New York City and the wider tristate area were hit by heavy floods after more than 5 inches of rain fell in September.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a lengthy warning Friday urging residents to be wary of the conditions caused by rain and also lake effect snow forecast for Monday, downwind of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie into central New York state, the western and southern Adirondacks and the Catskills. Up to a foot of snow is expected for areas south of Buffalo, the governor's office said.
The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services said it was prepared to deploy more than 1,500 generators, 500 chainsaws, almost 1,000 portable heaters and almost 350,000 bottles and cans of water.
The state's Department of Transport said it had more than 1,600 snow plows on standby.
At least one road in Princeton, New Jersey — Quaker Road — was impassable due to flooding and could not be used by emergency vehicles, the Princeton Police Department told NBC News early Monday.
NWS Boston warned that Cape Cod and the surrounding islands could see winds up to 60 mph Monday morning. Some ferry services from Falmouth, Maine, to Martha's Vineyard were canceled due to high winds until early Tuesday.
The storm is expected to move away from the East Coast Monday. But warnings of high winds will remain in place for 13 million people up and down the coast with gusts of up to 50 mph possible.
Winter warnings still continue, too, covering some 6 million people from the Appalachians to Maine. A couple of inches of snow is most likely, but some areas could see nearly 10 inches of snow Monday evening especially across northern New England.
The weather warnings in the Northeast come after the same weather system brought storms to the South. Tornadoes caused havoc over the weekend in Tennessee, where six people including a toddler were confirmed dead in the town of Clarksville on Saturday. Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts said on Sunday that 62 people were hospitalized. According to the National Weather Service in Nashville, the tornado had a preliminary peak wind speed of 150 mph and its path stretched 43 miles.
More than 50,000 homes were without power across the state as of Sunday, which had dropped to 20,000 by Monday morning, according to poweroutage.us.
