A day after the fierce winds of Tropical Storm Henri ravaged the northeast, cutting power for thousands and causing flooding from New York City to Rhode Island and beyond, the storm, now a slow-moving tropical depression, was expected to start another round of severe storms. rainfall and flooding to parts of southern New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic States on Monday.
At 5 a.m. Monday, the system was nearly at a standstill and was located about 60 miles northwest of New York City. It was moving east at one mile per hour with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph, according to to the National Weather Service.
“It’s come to a halt now, but should be slowly moving east later this morning and in the afternoon,” Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesperson for the National Hurricane Center, said Monday morning.
He said the system’s biggest impact would be more heavy rain. About two to eight inches of rain had already fallen in northern New Jersey and the New York metro area. Central Park set a record for the most rain in one hour on Saturday, when 1.94 inches fell between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
“It is still raining and will continue today,” he added. The most recent precipitation totals include up to 6.32 inches of rain in Brooklyn, about 6.5 inches in Lyndhurst, NJ, and a whopping 2.58 inches in Durham, Conn.
Henri is expected to drop another one to three inches of rain Monday, with higher amounts possible in some areas, across parts of Long Island, New England, southeastern New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
The rain will result in flash flooding, urban and small streams, Mr. Feltgen. Flood warnings were in effect for northern New Jersey and southeastern New York State and elsewhere.
“Motorists should not attempt to drive through barricades or through flooded areas,” said Mr Feltgen, pointing out that most deaths from flooding occur in vehicles. “Turn around, don’t drown,” he added.
Before weakening, Henri was a tropical storm hitting the northeast on Sunday. The system cut power across most of the Rhode Island coast, forced evacuations in Connecticut, stranded dozens of motorists in New Jersey and shattered rain records in New York City.
The system, which made landfall in Rhode Island, spared the region the brunt of what had been predicted. At its peak on Sunday afternoon, the storm left more than 140,000 homes without power from New Jersey to Maine.
