A nor'easter has slammed the New York City region with incessant rain and high winds, closing schools and disrupting travel for thousands of people. And it is expected to get worse, especially along coastal areas, because Friday evening's high tide is expected to be especially strong.
On the the Mario Cuomo Bridge across the Hudson River — the former Tappan Zee — three tractor-trailer trucks overturned on the bridge Friday afternoon due to high winds. Semi-trailer trucks and buses are now banned on the bridge. Elsewhere in the region:
- NJ Transit has cancelled numerous trains out of Penn Station Friday afternoon and is experiencing up to hour-long delays on many others due to an overhead wire problem near Seacaucus. NJ Transit bus and private carriers are honoring train tickets and passes.
- Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad are also reporting delays on some lines due to fallen trees or other debris that had collected on the tracks.
- Amtrak has suspended all service between Washington, D.C., and Boston.
- Some city bus lines in the Bronx AND Queens are making detours because of downed power lines, and others are experiencing delays.
- La Guardia Airport has suspended almost all flights due to high winds, and hundreds of flights into and out of JFK and Newark Liberty Airports have been cancelled, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
- Expressways and other roadways are also flooding.
The city Office of Emergency Management reported early Friday afternoon that rain was coming down at the rate of a quarter-inch an hour, and winds were expected to reach 40 miles and hour, with even stronger gusts.
The extreme weather has disrupted even the most mundane of errands. In Island Park, Long Island, pet groomer Carlos Zapelli, 34, says multiple customers canceled their appointments this morning after taking a look outside.
"I don't have too many dogs today," Zapelli, the owner of Fluffy Angel Pet Grooming and Spa, told WNYC.
The Island Park school superintendent Rosemarie Bovino did not cancel classes, but she called in firefighters to carry pupils across flooded streets this morning.
"I've been up, for example, since 3:30 this morning," Bovino said. "I'm not a professional meteorologist, and I didn't realize this was going to be part of my job."
A total of four inches of rain was expected to fall; in the northern stretches of the region, up to seven inches of snow could accumulate.
Coastal areas, such as Staten Island, the Rockaways, College Point, and Long Island's south and north shores, could see extensive flooding again this evening when an astronomical high tide coincides with the storm surge.